Daddy's Home!

Since David started his new job in July, we've had to make some adjustments to our family life - namely getting used to not having him around. The hub of his work is in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city about a 6-hour drive away. The separation was our main reservation about the job. That said, given all the other reasons to take it, we didn't dwell much on what it would mean.

The intermittent work to be done in Harare (where donors and partners are based) gives him business-legit reasons to come home, but we have never been able to work out a schedule. We look ahead in terms of weeks.... Will he be here? Will he not be here? And then 30% of the time, plans change. Luckily, we've had years of training in dealing with a certain degree of uncertainty!

Here are some benefits to our new arrangement:

1. Daddy-Value is Made Evident!  While daddy is away, we develop a virtual (and sometimes literal) what-to-do-when-daddy-gets-home lists that includes such projects as sort out the laptop memory issues, dig deeper into 4th grade invention concept, test out our new talent show idea, figure out what we're doing during the summer break, review the new "fashion app" that Eliza wants, practice guitar, etc, etc. While we try not to pile too much on him when he walks in the door, we have lots of ways of making him feel valued!

2. The Mundane Gets Special.  OK, we pretty much always made a habit out of celebrating when daddy got home. Woohoo! Let the division of labor at home be further divided! But now, we have days of anticipation. Just spending time together, we feel like something good and important is happening. The usual things become exciting: daddy's taking you to school!

Eliza's usual enthusiastic attack

3. Daddy is Refreshed.  Alone in his penthouse flat in the tallest building in Bulawayo, daddy gets alone time. Even seeing his building in the distance during the work day gives him joy. His very own space. After 10 years of sharing, of living in a family domain decorated by his wife and set up to accommodate children, he now has an almost zen like spartan-white man cave. But in the clouds. A man-cloud? Where no one bothers him. And he can happily live on scrambled eggs and peanut butter sandwiches for days at a time.

4. Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder.  There's truth to that. And it works both ways. David is happy to see us, too!