I didn’t talk about this too often, but I’ve been on the world’s longest paternity leave.
It wasn’t the original plan, but it ended up being what happened either way.
The original plan was to work the day job until a week or two before our 3rd baby was born, then take some time off to take care of my wife and kids.
But between the job changing things to make my life harder for the same pay and the pregnancy being particularly challenging compared to the last two…
I decided to cut out early.
I’m talking 3 months early.
Was it smart?
Nope.
Was it easy?
Not at all.
Was it worth it?
I’d say so.
Then one day, out of nowhere, my son decided to let my wife know he would be arriving a couple weeks early.
He was not bluffing, because that’s exactly what he did.
Let the newborn phase games begin…
This time with a near-4 year old, 2 year old, 3 cats, a 5 year old dog, and a 5 month old puppy too.
Never a dull moment in the Johansson household.
For the last few months, no one was sleeping all that well, everyone was tired, and only recently did we get back into a bit of a groove, just in time for the classic 4 month sleep regression.
To add challenges to challenges…
The job market went haywire and for the first time in a long time, I was having trouble locking down a new position.
You couldn’t pay me to take my old job back, so…
What was supposed to take 6 weeks ended up taking 13.
If you add in the 11 or so weeks I took off before my son was born…
My near-6 month “vacation” is over and we’re back in business.
Or should I say… we’re back in 9-5 + digital product business.
The cool thing is nothing really changes with what I do online.
I still wake up long before the crack of dawn, schedule my daily email, schedule posts, help leads and customers, and improve my product offering.
Maybe I’ll do a bit of work after my wife and kids go to bed, or maybe I’ll just play online chess.
Either way, it’s back to reality.
And on that note… I gotta hit the ice cold garage gym, take the pups out, and get ready for work!
Talk soon,
-Gabe