I tell people that I used to be the Montgomery Burns of personal time — I was both wealthy and greedy.
When I became a dad, all of that flew out the window. It’s funny because I knew, at least at some level, that it would. My wife and I read books, took classes, heard from other parents aboout the difference in time you have before and after kids.
But on this whole other level, I was oblivious. When we learned that we would be adopting our son just two weeks before his biomom was scheduled for a c-section, I thought, “I’ll start a blog!”
That just seems hilarious to me now. Between work, taking care of this guy and all of the bottle washing, I’m living with a serious deficit in personal time. This after years and years of surpluses.
And yet, every once in a while, things line up. The kid got up early this morning because he had a diaper leak. He wouln’t go back to sleep and soon that he wanted to eat (at 4:30 a.m. instead of the usual 6:30 a.m.).
About 10 mins after feeding him, he was back asleep. I had a cup of coffee loaded in me, so now I found myself with a block of unexpected free time.
There’s so much I could do! I could tackle some chores. I could watch a movie. I could get a head-start on my day. I could play a game. I could work on my bike.
I wanted to do it all, but I couldn’t focus on just one. Then I decided to sit down and write about it in one of my neglected blogs.
But, you know, it’s all ok. Sure, sometimes it feels a bit like a forced march, especially if I haven’t had enough sleep. Having less personal time makes me more appreciative of the little bit I do have. And I think I waste less time now, too.