hold on tight

I am due to return to work full-time on May 1.


A quick check of my calendar reveals that May 1 is tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

As in, the next time the sun rises in the eastern sky.

How are we going to manage this, do you ask?

Well. Um. Let's see.

Charlie is going to significantly reduce his work schedule from 32 hours a week to around 24 hours a week. (Although that doesn't seem very significant does it?)

He was planning to reduce his work schedule from 32 hours a week to 8 hours a week but his boss said that if he did that, they'd have to shut down his office. And seeing as he'd like to still to have an office - particularly since he has someone that works full-time for him - that arrangement would be no good at all. Especially for the guy that works for Charlie.

So, the current plan is that Charlie will work two half days per week and one full day per week in the office. Then, he'll work a few additional hours at home, at night. Within the next few weeks, he hopes to hire an additional person to help ease his work load. As for me, I will work two half days per week, two full days per week and I'll be doing work at night, too.

Thankfully, we have very flexible jobs.

But seeing as I currently manage around 30 projects in San Diego County and will be picking up approximately 30 (or 40 or 50) more projects in Riverside County, I know that I'll be busy in between playing with children and training for a marathon and knitting baby blankets and sleeping and blogging.

(Of course I'll keep blogging. I may as well give up oxygen.)

Although there once was a time when Charlie could have taken over my job ... and there was once a time when I could have continued working part-time indefinitely ... neither of those options are currently available due to some changes with my company's management.

When my boss asked me last week how we are going to manage this, I told him that we are going to do the best we can alternating schedules during the week. Much like we do, now. When he further asked if we were going to bring in a nanny or put the kids in preschool, I said "No!"

Because... I think that it would be too much for any one person to come and stay in our house for eight or more hours a day without taking the children out to a park or play dates.

Because ... I think it would be too much for our children to stay in the house for eight or more hours a day without going out to a park or play dates.

Because ... I don't feel comfortable with some one other than Charlie or I taking all four of our children out of the house to a park or play dates. Or anywhere for that matter that involves travel in a car.

Because ... I don't like the idea of putting all four of our children in daycare - or preschool - for eight plus hours a day. Or six plus hours a day. Or ... at all.

Because ... even though we could afford the $3,000.00+ tuition that would be required for all four of our children to be in daycare if we were both working full-time, our children would be gone from home for the entire day.

Because ... we've already done the whole "kids are gone from home for the whole day" thing before and it was terribly difficult on all of us.

Fortunately, we both don't need to work in order to make ends meet. And if this schedule proves to be too difficult for us to manage effectively, we will make adjustments as necessary.

But we both determined long ago that the best arrangement for our family - psychologically and financially - is if both Charlie and I have the outlet of working a few days a week. And although there certainly are times when I've considered giving up my career completely, my company has made that very difficult for me to do.

For the past four and a half years, my company has granted me an amazing amount of flexibility to work part-time. Minus those two years that I took off on maternity leave. But now my time is up and I must return to work full-time.

At least until we have another baby.

Because life just isn't exciting enough around here.