A tale of two cities December 22, 2010
Posted by mareserinitatis in family, older son, younger son.Tags: travel
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The previous two academic years, I was in Minneapolis while Mike was in Fargo. While in this arrangement, we had a tough decision to make: how do we deal with the kids. It worked well for me to take the older boy with to Minneapolis, where he got to go to his really awesome school. The younger one, however, stayed in Fargo with Dad.
This arrangement seemed to work fairly well (at least, once Mike finished his PhD) with an intermittent problem. On occasion, Mike is expected to travel for work. We were fortunate that my parents live near Fargo and were able to take their grandson during those times that Mike had to leave.
When I moved back home this summer, this was one of the things we were glad about. As much as my parents are wonderful grandparents, neither of us likes leaning on them too much for child-care assistance. They’re busy people and have other things to do, too. (Even though I really think they should drop everything to be at our beck and call.) All of us being under one roof has been wonderful, especially when Mike has to travel. (Although I find it odd that when he is sent on travel, we get over a foot of snow. Coincidence? I think not…)
However, one thing has come up that we never anticipated: our boss set a date for a meeting with a customer, and he said, “You know, it would be good if both of you could be there.”
This is one of the drawbacks of working with one’s spouse. Good thing I didn’t take my Mom off speed dial.
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I hate leaning on other people, especially your parents, when you’re supposed to be an independent adult. But I think as this is their grandchildren this is an okay way to need to lean on them. And yes definitely one of those give and takes of working with your spouse.