Juggling work and home with the family

I work as a self-employed painter and decorator so unfortunately I have to work to earn money. No one pays you sick pay or holiday money so consequently I work long hours.

I like to think I’ve got the balance right most of the time.

My wife works two days a week due to the ridiculous price of childcare. I have our twin girls one day a week which is something I am very protective of.

Why?

Well it’s my time with our twins, where I am able to form the father-daughter bond. It’s just me and them and now the reality of our time has become more important because the girls in September this year are starting state nursery.

Unfortunately for me I am very busy with my job. I am I suppose I am a victim of my own success.

I live and work 99% of the time in the same surburb of my home town. All the jobs I get are usually by recommendation and I currently have three months work booked in.

This is where it is difficult for balance as I work on my own and simply can’t let my customers down so I usually end up working a lot of Saturdays.

The one day of the week which is exclusively family day is Sunday and I would never change that. It’s the one day when we can do family things.

Truthfully I feel guilty of how much time I spend in work. I leave at about 7.30am and rarely get home before 5.00pm. It’s a long day! The problem in today’s world is everybody wants something done yesterday and the pressure of that is that my schedule is always very tight and as soon as one job is finishing I am thinking of the next one. Although I am always home for bedtime with the twins.

While at work my wife will ring to say hello and tell me how everybody is, what they’ve been doing and yes I feel jealous and a little bit left out that I am not enjoying the day out at somewhere like the farm, but as I have said this is one of the downsides of being self-employed.

Hopefully I have found a good balance between work and home and I am enjoying the benefits of both and I hope the twins don’t grow up thinking dad was always in work.