The Butler, the Maid, and the Pig

Over the last few months, I have started to feel like I have three full-time jobs. I get up every morning at 6:00 am and work on breakfasts and lunches for both Troy and my wife. Then, I get Troy up, feed him, brush his teeth, get him dressed, and comb his hair before heading off to pack his backpack. Sprinkled in among these tasks are requests from my wife like helping her put her bra strap thingy on or helping her with her sock on her bad leg. Much to my son’s delight, I’ve actually embraced the Mr. Butler moniker, feeling like a servant that is at everyone’s beck and call, while also being responsible for making sure things run smoothly and on time.

After I finally manage to wrangle them out of the house, I go to my second “job.” I wash dishes, sweep the floor, make the beds, straighten up the toys and pillows in the den, and work on the laundry. Sometimes, if I’m lucky, I’ll get started on these before they leave, and I’ll be both butler and housemaid at the same time! Sometimes, these jobs take all day to actually complete, so I’m constantly running up and down the stairs to chip away at them in between meetings. Every other Friday, the actual maid comes to do a deep cleaning on the house, so I get the added bonus of picking up everything and putting it away, so she won’t just clean around it.

And finally, I go to the only job I actually get paid for…bringing home the bacon, if you will. From 8:30 am to 2:00 pm, I manage projects, build integrations, manage a team of 25, attend an endless number of useless meetings, coddle my clients, and solve all the world’s problems as the Wizard of Oz. Then, I transform back into the butler and head off to sit in a car line at Troy’s school for an hour and a half. Most of the time, I’m still answering inquiries, dealing with issues, and taking meetings from the car line, so it gets a little blurry which job I’m doing..sort of a butler…wizard pig crossover. I then drive Troy to his after school playcare, before sitting in the parking lot and practicing his reading with him. And then, it’s back home to continue working at my bacon job for another three hours.

Usually, before I’m done, Troy and my wife will get home. I’ll wrap up and head down to feed Troy, bathe him, brush his teeth, read him a book, put him to bed, and sit with him in the dark until he falls asleep. When I finally wander back downstairs, it’s around 10:00 pm. I’ll take the next hour or so to read my Bible, watch part of a movie, and generally unwind. And the next day, it all starts over again! I have a new-found appreciation for single parents. My hats off to all of you out there. You are an inspiration to us all!