…my son said this morning while I was frantically rushing around to get dressed, pack my lunch, throw the laptop in my bag and grab my charged mobile phone, and run out of the door to catch the bus at 6:28 to catch the train at 6:51 to catch the S-Bahn and another bus…
“I know, I’m gone the whole day, aren’t I?”
“Yes, you are – why?”
“Because I have to work really hard, and then I have a long trip to and from Hamburg every day.”
“But I want to cuddle with you!”
“I know – we will just have to make sure we do some turbo-cuddling on the weekend and make up for the time.”
He seemed satisfied with that – at least for now. I am sure things will calm down when my job isn’t so new anymore, and then I am firmly planning on sneaking out a little bit earlier one or two days a week, so we have a little bit of time together in the afternoon.
But this ain’t easy.
ohh… on the flip side, he is now a billigual boy, right?!
I think everyone struggles with the time and not being able to spend it with their children (or significant others for that matter). I don’t know how its done with the Antartica trips with children but maybe you aren’t going back??
Hey Åsa – yes, he’s completely bilingual. That was one of the big reasons for us to move to Germany, and another was that neither my husband nor I have to be away for extended periods of time (i.e. in the Antarctic) anymore. It’s just hard for me that now I’m gone for 14 hours some days, while my husband gets to spend more time with our son! But at least one of us does – and right now, during summer vacation, the two are having a really good time :)
I hear you, Steffi. As long as your son is assured that you love him, that you want a cuddle, and that you will follow up on your promise to do so on the weekend, he’ll adapt surprisingly well. Then you can work on your own adaptation to your new situation, right?
Heather – I am firmly planning on some turbo-cuddling this weekend :)
He’ll be fine, and I will be too.