Austin Dads Blog, Father's Day

{We are 3 days out from Father’s Day 2014 and to honor the men in our lives, we are turning over the blogging reins to some pretty special dads this week. Check out all of our dads this week as they share their joys, regrets, and journeys to fatherhood with Austin Dads Blog.}

I try to ask very little of my brother-in-law, Jason, because I know he is a busy man… BUT, when it came time to feature the men in our lives, I knew that he should be included in this series. I’m fortunate that my sister not only lives in Austin, but LITERALLY 2 doors away from me. The downside is that her move to Austin meant her husband would be spending the week in Houston for work and his weekends in Austin with the family. This is his journey!

It’s not Planes Trains & Automobiles 24/7, but my job requires me to travel more than a typical job requires of its employees. 

The downside is that I see less of the kids during the week than I would like, but the upside provides a better quality of life for the family as a whole.  So what’s the difference in a traveling father versus a father that stays at the office late hours? The answer is…nothing.  There have been times where I saw the kids less while working long hours than I did when traveling several days a week.

The real question here is my work versus family balance.

Balancing work and family, the tale of 2 cities, Austin Moms Blog, Jason Davis

  • Quality Time: The importance of quality time spent with the kids cannot be emphasized enough.  If you are missing out on valuable time during the work week, I make sure I make up for it on the weekends.Balancing work and family, the tale of 2 cities, Austin Moms Blog, Jason Davis
  • Pre-Plan: My wife and I make it a priority to pre-plan each weekend so that we are not just sitting around the house while the kids play video games or watch television.  We start with the events scheduled in advance, like little league games and birthday parties, and we fill in activities around those.
  • Social Time: One thing that we have to cognizant of is the kids’ social time with their friends on the weekends.  On one hand, this is good for the kids, but on the other hand, it takes away from our family time.  This is a compromise that can easily be worked out.  When possible, we let their friends come to our house and play.  If there is a sleepover, we prefer to let their friends sleep over at our house.  If the playtime has to be at their friend’s house, we try and limit it to a reasonable time.
  • Quality Spouse Time: I know we are talking about quality time with the kids after being away all week, but let’s be honest, my quality time with the wife is on top of the list also.  What we have been doing lately is have movie nights where the first movie we watch is something that the kids pick out and the next movie is something that my wife and I want to watch.  At that time, the kids can go do their own thing for an hour or so before going to bed.  Honestly, at this point, they are pretty sick of us anyway!
  • Activities: What about the activities during the week that will be missed?  Homework, little league games, practices, school plays. This one is a little tougher, but with help from Steve Jobs, FaceTime can help bridge this gap.  I can sit for an hour on FaceTime and help my daughter work through all of her homework.   I also make an effort to call the kids both before and after their games or practices each time to tell them to have a good game and then to ask how their game was.  It also helps to have a wife who will patiently send you a play by play during their games!

Balancing work and family, the tale of 2 cities, Austin Moms Blog, Jason Davis

Balancing work and family, the tale of 2 cities, Austin Moms Blog, Jason Davis

Being away from the kids because of work is hard, but not spending the time wisely when you are not can make it even harder.  Remember, you only get one shot at this, make it a good one.

Jason Davis, Austin Moms Blog, Managing a Career and Family

 

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