Today, I am going to work and then to the spa for some much-needed self-care.
Also today, my teen-age son is having his wisdom teeth removed.
Before you start “bad mothering” me, relax. My husband’s got this. I mean he’s really on top of it. I am big picture, he is details—and this has worked for us throughout our marriage.
Lean in. That’s what Sheryl Sandberg told women to do a decade ago in her book by the same name. She also told us choosing the right partner would go a long way toward our ability to completely excel at work.
Sandberg wrote, “I truly believe that the single most important career decision a woman makes is whether she will have a life partner and who that partner is. I don’t know of one woman in a leadership position whose life partner is not fully—and I mean fully—supportive of her career. No exceptions.”
I am thankful to say that I, too, have a partner who helps me to follow my ambitions and my purpose. The morning I started yet another executive-level position, I crafted this text to my husband:
Because of you, I have been able to chase my dreams. You are my ultimate support system. My ride or die. You allow me to lean in. I love you.
My husband has taken great care of our son and doggy daughter while I work long hours, travel and work more long hours. As an educator who is also living his purpose, he has summers off, not to mention holiday and spring breaks. He handles doctor appointments and sports physicals. Detailed oriented, he also manages our household. He even does annual father-son trips every summer.
I often show up just in time for my son’s tee-off or tip-off or while his band is tuning up. I am also around to drive him to and from practices and rehearsals about half the time. I never miss an activity, I just miss out on the planning most days.
So, this is a thank you to my husband and husbands everywhere who make the same level of commitment to their wives and their careers.
I’ll end this by saying that despite the fact that my husband made the appointment and all the arrangements for my son’s oral surgery, I—the Mom—still received all of the paperwork notifications as well as the reminder calls and texts for the doctor’s office. Even when my husband, with the more flexible schedule, is listed as the first contact for our son, doctors, schools and sports teams still bypass him and reach out to me, Mom.
Now, if we can get the rest of the universe on board with the idea that husbands can manage households, that would be lovely.
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