Family Time

As a working-student and dad, I don’t have ample time to spend with my son during weekdays. However, despite my very hectic schedule, I make it a point to go straight home after work, so I would be there when he wakes up, and we could spend breakfast together everyday. I read him a good story, play with him, and talk to him before I go to bed. I know that the usual thing is, parents reading their kids a good story before their kids go to sleep at night, but it’s the other way around for us, especially when Iñigo learned how to read. I feel bad sometimes coz I don’t want to sleep on him and I can’t help but fall asleep.

Sleeping time  for me is during the morning until after lunch. I go to school in the afternoon until 7PM, sometimes 8pm, depending on my schedule. I go home right after class to have dinner with my wife, son, and the rest of our family.  Then I work from 9PM to 6AM.  Sometimes, I go to work right after school, most especially when my class ends at 8PM, and whenever I can’t  go home, I just have my dinner at the office’s pantry.

My wife Dee is also a student. She wanted to find a job to help me out with our expenses,  but I insisted that she focus on being a full-time student and at the same time full-time mom to our son Iñigo. She wakes up early in the morning coz her classes start at 7AM, so she’s not home the moment I arrive from work. She goes home in the afternoon, and spend her time with Iñigo for the rest of the day.

I must admit, it’s tough to be a student, an employee, a dad, and a husband at the same time. But, I have gotten used to it already.  Although there are still times that I feel so tired and I just wanna give up, but I tell myself that I can’t and I have to stay strong for my family.  I  just keep in mind that things will change  soon as Dee and I graduate in college this March.  When that happens,  we will have more time to spend together as a family before Iñig0 reaches schooling age.

I guess you’re asking, how did we survive this kind of set-up? or How am I able to maintain a good relationship with my wife and son, as well as the rest of my family,  given that I have a very limited time to spend with them.

It’s pretty simple. I make sure that during the weekend, or whenever I get the chance to, I give them 100% of my time.  Like during weekdays and we have no class, I ask Dee to go out with me, either just the two of us in a date, or with our son.  We go strolling at the mall, go window shopping, and of course, drop by Iñigo’s  favorite McDonalds or Jowibee(Jollibee).

With Saturdays and Sundays being our only days off from work and school, we declared weekend as our official family bonding time. Dee and I  make use of our time to spend with Iñigo, talk to him, and play with him.  It’s also during the weekend that we get to bond as a whole family.

One constant thing that we do is find a good movie to watch every Saturday night. Imagine how much it would cost for a family of 10 members to eat out and watch a movie at movie houses. So, what we do is we just find a good movie either on the net or borrow a DVD , then watch it at home. We just buy the ingredients, prepare good food, and enjoy our time together at home without having to spend too much, or waste our precious time on traveling to go somewhere else, except during our trips to the beach during holidays.

During Sundays, we go to church together, then when we go to the grocery to buy stuff for the whole week’s supply. We do activities at home together, from simple household chores like washing the dishes, to general house cleaning. We also find time to help our Abuela Anna (grandma) with her gardening. The girls usually spend more time bonding at the kitchen, while Dad bonds with me and my brothers.

Home has been a place where I don’t just just find rest from all my cares and worries, from work, from school, but it’s a place where I find comfort and happiness. I guess it’s also the reason why no matter where I go, at the end of the day, my feet would always lead me back home where true happiness is.

Some people find my life crazy, hectic, tiring and at the same time boring. Some even ask how am I able to survive without having fun?

You know what I think, those people don’t know the real meaning of quality fun and happiness, coz they can’t even tell what sets  true happiness  that lasts apart from short term fun and  enjoyment. It is never boring to spend quality time with your family, it is not crazy to show them how much you love them and how important they are to you by finding time no matter how impossible.

Instead of going out, partying, spending your hard earned money on senseless things, or exposing yourself to temptation… then buying  your family material things in order to cover-up your guilt or make it up to them… Why don’t you give them yourself and your time?