AdventureDad

For the past two weeks I've done something very unusual.  I've been without kids or wife.  I rarely travel for work but was fortunate to combine working (with a very light workload), party, workout, play team tennis with my German team, and play around on the world famous Autobahn for two whole weeks.  I often talk about the importance of personal time, or time with the wife, and this was a great way to recharge the batteries and have some fun without having to use vacation.

The most important thing for  parents is spending time  with the children.  Second most important is probably also getting a break on a regular basis from diapers, baby food, and the whole baby routine.

When our son was just over 12 months old we used a babysitter each Friday for a night out, just the two of us.  It was a great idea that was given by a friend of us.  Making it a weekly date "forced" us to spend time together and leave our son with the baby sitter.  It was really something to look forward to each week.  If you don't already do this I can highly recommend it.   Taking short regular breaks is the best way to keep being patient and not going nuts with the little ones.

I should probably mention that this applies more over here in Sweden where work conditions, lots of vacation, and parental leave makes it possible to really get to know the kids.  There are few of the typical weekend fathers that I meet in U.S., Lain America, and Asia.  The ones who believe a two hour walk in the park on a weekend is somehow enough to form a close bond with a child.  If you're a weekend parent there probably isn't a need to get a break from the children since so little time is spent with them anyway. 

Both me and the wife play tennis, work out, and spend time with friends every week without the kids so we do get time away from the little ones. I couldn't survive without some personal time and that's why my two weeks in Germany were so great. 

The few work trips I take are usually combined with vacation and in nice places.  Work a couple of weeks in NYC, bring the family, and then hang out in Mexico.  Or work a little in Singapore and at the same time enjoy some extra vacation.

One of the  advantages with working in a very stressful environment is how relaxing it is to see a normal work place. It's a bit like having four kids and suddenly your just alone with the wife for a while.  What a nice change of pace! My two weeks in Frankfurt were nice with light workload and great people.  Plenty of time for going for long runs, excellent food in the evenings, and catching up with old friends.

My friend Robert and family, also known as Château Sibbel, only live a couple of fast hours away on Autobahn so I spent plenty of time there with our great tennis team.

It was a tough decision to stay away from home for two whole weeks but I feel refreshed and eager to spend time with the wife and children.  I wanted to fly back to Stockholm over the weekend but my wife had a great idea.  Instead, we had the company fly over my MIL from Mexico.  That was no problems and worked out very well.  She's still here and will be with us for a few more weeks.

The only downside was the children missing me and being a little annoyed at times but an hour after I came back everything was back to normal again.  Our daughter is developing at an incredible pace and had made great strides in two short weeks. I hope she's looking forward to Daddy being in charge of the household for a while……

Coming up, Daddy gets ready for  paternity leave.  Wohoooooo!