New Routine! I Think I Like It?
Which makes me wonder…what else can I try out?
My kids started at a new preschool in mid August. They had spent the last 5 months with a wonderful nanny and before then had been at a different daycare. Having the nanny cost more than the previous daycare and their current school is almost exactly the same cost as the nanny, so my finances haven’t changed much.
What has changed is my schedule and routines. The actual time that kids are being taken care of has barely changed -- the nanny worked 9-4 and would be flexible to stay a little later or come a little earlier if a need arose (i.e. early morning doctor’s appointment or client session that ended right at 4). Now the kids get dropped off at 8:45 and picked up between 4-4:30. Almost identical to the previous schedule, right??
Wrong!
My husband and I both work from home -- I work in a home office on the second floor which is right next to the kids’ bedrooms and my husband works out of a workshop in the backyard which, importantly, does not have a bathroom or running water (it does have electricity and AC, however). What this meant in reality when we had the nanny was that we were both trapped for good portions of the day. We didn’t want the kids to see us and then get thrown off of their regular routines and so we hid away. This meant I didn’t get nearly as much midday movement in my life, which has always been a really important factor in my productivity and neither my husband nor I drank enough water or ate reasonable meals on a lot of days. Granted, the nanny always took the kids out for a morning activity, but that wasn’t the time period that seemed most important for us to be able to leave our respective offices.
Okay, now I’m just rambling.
The point is that all of a sudden we have our house fully back! And, let me tell you, it is marvelous. I made a wonderful lunch yesterday AND ATE IT AT THE DINING ROOM TABLE. A luxury!
Sometimes when I’m feeling stuck in a client challenge I putz around the first floor and walk up and down the stairs to clear my head. Incredible!
My husband regularly drinks water and eats food. A HUGE win!
And how, praytell, does this relate to money you ask?
Well, in a roundabout way it is entirely linked. Sometimes the options you have aren’t really about money, they’re about lifestyle or values. And, sometimes, you don’t really know what you’re missing until you’ve tried both options. We absolutely adored our nanny. She is still an important part of our lives and I wouldn’t have traded that time for the world. AND the changes in my day to day when my kids are fully out of the house are priceless to me.
Sometimes it is easy to try both ways -- you can absolutely get one kind of milk at the store one week and try the other kind you’re interested in the following week. But, more often than not it is hard to try it both ways. You can’t buy two homes (probably) in two locations to see which one you like better, but you can rent an Airbnb for a few days to check out a different neighborhood. You can’t commit to a nanny and a preschool at the same time and decide which one you like better, but you probably can try out a full-day babysitter for a day or two to test the waters.
If you’re struggling with an “either or” financial decision I highly recommend taking the time to brainstorm ways of recreating the scenarios so you can see how they feel before making a decision. Who knows, maybe you’ll realize you can pee in the middle of the day without fear of upsetting the delicate balance of your 18 month and 3 year old’s dynamic! And, let me tell you, that’s a miracle.
As always, I’m rooting for you.
XOXO,
