Waiting on the Front Porch

My husband works from home.

He in sales for a technology company, so while he is in meetings in and around Houston all the time, his home base is our home office. He doesn't go to an office every day, he goes to the study at the front of our house. Because his meetings are usually over a meal or in a client's office, his company just doesn't see the need to have a physical location for everyone to go to. If he's not in a meeting, he is either on the emailing or on the phone or doing a video conference call of some sort... all of which can be done from our own home. He's either in his office or out on the road. 

This is a wonderful, beautiful thing. I love this set up. It means he's home more and not fighting that awful Houston traffic. He is present and can have lunch with us most days. When Ellie was younger, there were major milestones in her little life that he was present for because I could just holler for him and he could come see her roll over or sit up or crawl. It is such a blessing for him to be home so much. 

However, it is not without its challenges. He has to work. He's WORKING, he's not here to talk with us or play. He has to stay in work mode and I have to try my hardest not to distract him. To complicate matters further, his office is not far at all from the kitchen and living room which is kind of me and Ellie's home base. We have to keep the volume down. We have to not play instruments (one of her favorite things) during work hours. There are days I wish we lived in a two story house so Grant could work upstairs and that could be his domain and we could be downstairs and that could be our domain. Just a little bit of separation. Grant often has to take phone calls outside or in his car or in the garage or literally pacing the driveway or the backyard so that he doesn't wake Ellie up from naps. So many times she'll hear him say "Hello, this is Grant" as he answers the phone and she will look at me and put her tiny little finger up to her mouth and say "Shhhh, Mommy... Daddy's on the phone."

"Shh, Mommy... Daddy's working okay? Let Daddy work."

His office doors are french doors with little windows and if I'm not careful, she'll walk over and put her little face against the window and say "Daaaaaaddddyy! I SEE YOU!" 

And sometimes, he can pull himself away and eat a sandwich with us. Sometimes he'll sit on the back porch with Ellie in between phone calls and share a popsicle with her. I try really hard to be aware of his schedule and let him work and we try to keep our distance from 8:00am to 5:00pm. But sometimes it just doesn't work and sometimes he has to go to Starbucks and work from there just to get away from the noise of a very busy little toddler girl.

Yesterday, around 5:30, Ellie and I walked outside to get the mail and Grant's truck was in the driveway. He had been out at meetings all day and we hadn't seen him. "Daddy's home! Daddy's truck!" He smiled and waved at us, but he was still on a phone call. Even though he is home, sometimes he is still working and needs to finish the call in the quietness of his vehicle. So we started walking to get the mail and she started saying "Come wif us, Daddy! Let's get-da-mail!" But he was not coming. She was sad as we walked to the mailbox. Head down, shoulders slumped... "Oh gosh... my Daddy in the Daddy's truck, oh gosh, Daddy's on the phone!"

We walked back up the driveway and she said "Daddy, get OUT!" And he smiled and waved. I told her he would come inside soon.

And then she plopped her little butt on the porch and asked me for a cup and a snack. She was going to sit there and wait for him. And since the weather is finally acceptable for human beings to sit outside in, I decided we could do that.

So that's what we did.

We talked and waited and enjoyed the beautiful Fall day. And then we heard the door open and we heard him saying his goodbyes. And he walked up the sidewalk and said "HI, beautiful girl!" And she ran to him and said "Daddy! No more phone! Daddy come inside! Daddy have a popsicle!"

And he did.

And she was pretty happy about that.