I have had the immense privilege of being able to stay home with my girls. After working for 12 years I stopped. I had just graduated with my MBA and found out I was pregnant. I spoke to Kerry about staying home before we even knew I was pregnant. October 2017 we agreed that I would leave work in May 2018. I wasn’t happy. I hadn’t been happy that whole year. We had the benefit of 2 things that made the decision easy. 1. We had learned to live on one income from May 2013 when we moved from New Jersey to Michigan. 2. We had just gotten out of debt at the end of November 2017. So that was the plan. The things that transpired between October 2017 and May 2018 confirmed that we were on the right path in me staying home and then finding out we were pregnant was the icing. I knew I didn’t want to go through my pregnancy at work. God blessed. Not only do we have Carys we now have Ava. We don’t live in Michigan anymore, or Atlanta, we’re now in Dallas, TX.
We moved in the beginning of the pandemic to a place where we didn’t know many people and none of them lived close by with 2 babies. To say it has been tough is an understatement but the bond that Kerry and I have formed on top of the bond we formed moving from New Jersey to Michigan is unbreakable. It has been such a joy and a blessing to be on this journey with Kerry. He makes this journey in parenthood food. Our partnership pushes us to continue pushing to be our best and pursue our goals. While spending time with the girls I started thinking about what I wanted to model for them. What did I want them to see from me without me having to say a word. What did I want for them and their future. I missed adult interaction and the mental stimulation that comes from work.
I started looking at jobs and seeing which ones piqued my interest. Not many did but then there was 1. And I said to God if this is for me, you will give me the words to say during my interview and you will open this door, make it clear that it’s You and not me. My first interview Ava was with Kerry and started crying. I had to pause my live Zoom interview to get her and soothe her during my interview. I immediately assumed this is it. I’m not going any further. Who has an interview and stops it to not only get their baby but keep their baby during the interview? Well, God had other plans. The process continued and after 7 interviews God got me the job.
So now I’m back to working full time from home with our Carys back in school and thriving and Ava at home with Kerry and me. This has been a challenging time taking care of a 10 month old with Kerry and working. We pass her back and forth depending on the meetings we have and we both end up getting much of our work done at night after the girls are asleep. What we’ve been able to do is get a routine going for them both that allows us to have time in the evenings to work. The girls are up between 7/7:30 and Carys is at school by 8:30 for breakfast. School provides lunch and snack and I pick her up between 3/3:30. They are in bed between 7/7:30. Sun-Tues nights Kerry gets up if Ava wakes up and Wed-Fri nights I’m up to help Ava get back to sleep. Sat nights we alternate. Carys sleeps through it all God bless her.
The blessing of Covid for us is that we still get time with our girls and Ava gets to be with us both until she starts school in July. She will get the same time at home with us as Carys did before starting school. It’s a lot of work but I wouldn’t trade the long nights for anything. It’s also a blessing that many of my coworkers have small children too so it’s understood that kids will be in Zoom calls.
For those with kids how has Covid been for you? What’s been the most surprising thing? What do you want to continue even when things still open up?
