Bringing balance to work and life

This year I'll fly about 75,000 miles for Olapic. It'll take over a dozen trips. I'll be in 3 countries and at least 4 time zones. I'm en route on one of them as I type this at 35,000 feet in the air somewhere over the midwest. It's 2pm eastern time and I'm already 8 hours into my day on a Sunday. I made sure everything was squared away early, leaving plenty of time for Linda and I to sit and talk either about the week ahead or nothing at all. And I had to leave space for as many Nicky/Daddy giggles as time would allow.

Less than an hour into the flight, I signed up for the $16, 1990s style Internet connection on the plane. I placed my laptop where its name suggests and on my lap is where it's been for the hours since. I'm on my way to California for work and I'm doing work as I get there. It's been nonstop emails, customer research, planning for the week, and organizing all the projects I have ongoing. This has become rote.

As Nicky grows and becomes more aware of everything around him, including time, this gets difficult. He has started saying "daddy don't go" and asking when I'll be back. For now I can still say "a week" and he only knows that's longer than today but not by how much. Every morning when I put on my watch, even on weekends, he asks "Daddy go to work?" and when I say "No sweetie, it's Saturday. Daddy doesn't work" he'll invariably ask "Daddy stay here?" So I tell him yes and he celebrates. Sometimes during the week he demands "Daddy not go Olapic. Nicky not go school. Stay here!" and I tell him that I can't. I have to go.

Have to go. My son wants to spend time with me and I'm going elsewhere because I have to. I'm compelled to do something that eats my time, causes stress (don't all jobs?), and often takes me farther away than the already far Manhattan. Why? Bills? Is that it? Do I put myself through this to pay a bill? Surely there are other ways. Without oversharing, this job does more than pay the bills. It affords us a lifestyle we want. It pays more than the sum total of the bills.

But what do we do with it? We save. We try to get to some arbitrary next level. We compete with ourselves. We probably waste a lot of it on impulsivity (and buffalo wings). I could make just enough to cover our life and be home all the time. I could go the extra mile to have some breathing room. Why go the extra 75,000 miles?

I asked myself this while waiting for the Olapic database to return results I needed for an email. I thought - We don't need more stuff. Frankly, we could probably do with less. In the rotation of Frozen, Moana, Boss Baby, Sing, and every Mickey Mouse show available is Paw Patrol. We watch the show, Nicky claims he's Ryder and sleeps with a stuffed Marshall and Chase, Linda sings the songs without realizing it, and I often step on a construction truck driven by a bulldog. If Rubble were truly on the double, he'd get out of my way and spare my soles.

So, I found Paw Patrol Live is coming to NJ just before Christmas. I hunted through the dates and seats. I leveraged the distance from the stage vs the price. I tried to find the sweet spot of saving a buck but not being so far that Nicky gets bored or simply can't see it. Then I texted Linda and told her I had an idea but the price was high. I described it to her and she excitedly agreed without hesitation. 

On December 8th, the 3 of us are going to see Paw Patrol Live. Nicky of course has no idea. But I took it a step further. I made Nicky a VIP, which in Paw Patrol world means Very Important Pup. We got premium seats just a couple rows back. He gets a special souvenir. And after the show he'll get to meet Ryder and 2 of the pups backstage! I cannot imagine the happy little meltdown he's going to have. For those few hours, he'll be in his own little Nicky happy place. He'll think his cartoon heroes are real. Then he'll get to hug them. 

They say money doesn't buy happiness but I just did - for me, for Linda, for Nicky. Now I can go to work guilt-free. It's not because I assuaged my guilt with money, but because the work-life balance just tipped in my favor knowing one little boy's heart will burst with happiness. For that, I'd go the extra 150,000 miles if I had to.