In the middle of a pandemic may seem like a strange time to up and leave the lifestyle you’ve always known, however, the pandemic is one of the things that showed us that this is something we could do and something we wanted to do. Pre-COVID, Will left for work before 6 am and returned home around 5 pm, which meant he got to see Little Bird for 2 hours every evening. Typically, the evenings included a rushed dinner, 30 minutes of play, bath, and bed. Ever since he returned to work after her birth, bath and bed were his time with the baby. We were blessed in her first year that he had an inordinate amount of time off after her birth and throughout her first year. We got glimpses at a week or two at a time that allowed us to experience what it might be like to spend more time together, but in the end, it was always time to go back to the office come Monday morning.
Then COVID hit, and all of a sudden, we were home together all of the time, and even though he was still working at that point, we were eating three meals a day together and getting into a routine that involved parenting together. I will never forget the time Little Bird needed consoling and she went to her daddy instead of me. Suddenly, I wasn’t the only present caretaker, and she found that love in his arms as well as mine. While it seems like that may only have ever happened that once (just kidding), it highlighted for me how important it is for us to be together and the difference it could make in her relationships with both of us.
COVID showed us that we are better when we’re together. Going back to a life of 2-hour weeknights and coveted weekends and missing out on firsts was not appealing to us. I realized several years ago when I left the corporate world that there was something more to life than the walls of a cubicle, and now I saw there was something far better for our family too.
So yes, COVID will still pose some challenges to our travel plans and our ability to go see some things, but we know that going in and we are prepared to make those adjustments. Our path has led us to this point and we are confident we can make it work together.
Nurturing Adventure 