It's incredible that most of us live like that, unable or unwilling to see the irony.
Our family is going through some difficult changes now. To escape the ironic lifestyle, to be able to see her kids more than a tired hour per day, my wife has found a new job. This job will allow her to work from home a lot, which is the good part. The bad part is that there will probably be a lot of travel, too. And the worst part is that now, because it's a new job, she must leave home and travel to the end of the world (Seattle), and stay there for a couple of weeks (then return to Baltimore for a week, then again to Seattle for even longer).
It's not going to be easy for me, it's not going to be easy for the kids, and it's definitely not going to be easy for my wife, who will have to settle for Skype to see her kids.
But it's worth it. It's worth it because we must escape this terrible contradictory, ironic life. The idea of being with the kids and NOT being exhausted is something I experience every few days, but it's something she knows nothing about.
For 4+ years, she had woken up, rushed to work, and come home just in time to make dinner (after a day at work, she now faced a tired husband demanding a break and tired children who needed to sleep but didn't know it). Then she cleaned up the kitchen, and went to bed, falling asleep less than an hour later. And when people mentioned women who "had it all," they were talking about her. She had a great job, great kids, a beautiful husband, and a new Prius V. She had it all, alright.
And that's the sad irony of the middle class. Being constantly tired, spending a couple of hours driving to and from work, seeing kids an hour a day at their worst and at her worst is not even considered settling. It's the good life, because we could spend time on the weekends, and because we could travel as a family once a year.
Only it's not the good life. It's the middle-class trap, and it's something we should escape from or we'll sink into the same old tired routine that will end up destroying us.
Two weeks in Seattle is a small price to pay. Constant travel later in the year is nothing, compared to the benefits of being able to spend weeks together as a family.
It's hard, and my wife is a little depressed after two days in Seattle. This post is for you, Honey. I know it's hard, but you're pulling us out of the middle-class trap. You're our hero.
