I don’t know if you’re ever struck with a great idea while you’re in the shower but it seems to happen to me more often than not these days. Between family life, work life, unpredictable issues with the house, kid getting sick, pets needing to go to the vet, babysitters falling ill, a whole myriad of priority problems arising seemingly out of the thin air; The “free time” that I used to have has shrunk down to maybe, possibly, a half hour a day. To make it more interesting that half hour, prime time for some “shower idea” productivity, begins to feel like It’s smothered by unrelenting feeling of exhaustion and palpable burnout.
Next comes this inevitable and peculiar situation: standing in my garage over an iPad, writing and complaining to myself about all of that right now. It’s like a cathartic experience that I choose to do instead of actually working on my brilliant “shower thought.” The truth is that this — right now — is more important than actually doing something, anything.
Alright, back to the physical world and out of my self-pity pit. To be honest I’m just venting and the real solution to my, and every other parent’s troubles, is to look at our current way of doing things and modify that. Make time.
I used to loathe my dad’s answer to this complaint all the way back to when I left the nest and worked a full time retail job while attending college. Make time? I didn’t have time to “make time, Daaad !” Well, surprise! It’s exactly what you have to do, just a little differently each iteration of when that sacred moment gets hijacked by whatever is more important than what you were planning on doing.
This particular expanse of freedom has been dominated by my very young son, the very second that he was born. That’s more than alright, I yearned for this challenge to arise for four years. My kid and wife required 100% of my attention for the first year after Maksim came to be in this world, and honestly they still do as long as I’m here. My son is getting older now and it’s getting easier to do stuff and things… with him by my side, only I’m slightly more alert than ever and thus distracted very easily.
Nothing is more important than spending any and all of your time with your kid. Your “shower idea” will always be there. Your child’s life and his time with you will slip away as fast as waiting for a delicious, hand crafted, truck-stop taco during lunch break. It feels too good to be true. Something this amazing can’t possibly be completed and enjoyed by a mortal, and you have waited for so damn long… Yet here we are, and it is so much more than you have ever imagined it to be.
I have to remind myself, from time to time, that my son’s existence here with me is brand new to him. It is so much more important than any “brilliant idea” that I may come up with today, tomorrow, or whenever. These ideas of mine are fast, fleeting, common, and cheap; However, my son’s time with me is not only equally as fleeting, but also so uncommon and invaluable to him.
If something which you love is that important to you, you will make time, like I am doing right now over this iPad. No matter how tired that you or I may be after a long day. Maksim is fast asleep and probably dreaming of his own “bath-time” ideas that he eventually will speak to me. He is finally here and we’re going to have a blast making those dreams come true (with semi-arduous supervision). At the end of those days you better bet your fanny that I’ll be back out in this very garage, over this very iPad (unless it explodes), writing and documenting about those very important “bath-time/shower-thoughts” that I am so eager to make real.
Thanks for reading, until I write stuff & things again, I’ll catch you on the flip side.