They say that Teamwork makes the Dream Work. You know what? It’s true.
To know us as a family is to know that we are anything but conventional; a story that we have written since the very beginning. We had an unconventional wedding shower, an unconventional wedding, and unconventional baby showers. Let’s just say that we have forged our own path.
For us, our team works like a well-oiled machine. At separate points in time, each of us has been the breadwinner, so we have had to rely on each other in different capacities.
Many people cannot wrap their minds around how we manage our family. I have heard so many times that I should be thankful that I have such a great husband, which I am, no doubt. These same people have no idea what happens within the walls of our home, not that it is anyone’s business but there are many roles that we share, roles that are reversed, and a few that are traditional. For example, you may see Mike taking our daughter to a public restroom if she needs to go, and let’s face it, she’s at the age where she needs to check out every restaurant’s bathroom. A friend once said when we were out to eat, “Mike’s going to take Nina, our daughter, to the restroom? To which I replied, yes, it’s a private restroom, why not?” I took our son to the bathroom when he was younger so why can’t Mike take our daughter when it’s a private bathroom? This is only one instance of how things are different in our family. Mike is also the primary “chef” of our family, getting dinner started and finished before I come home. I take care of some of the things that the husband usually takes care of such as taking care of our finances.
We both share carpool duties for both of our children. We both run our children to extracurricular activities, we both make sure that Nina completes her homework each night and we both share bringing our children to their doctors’ appointments when the need arises.
We have learned that the best person to lean on during the day-to-day is each other. Often family members are wrapped up in their own lives and are not available to help so we have come to depend upon each other. If one of us is feeling sick, the other picks up the slack and vice versa. Mike handles the kids when I want to get away with my girlfriends over a long weekend and I take care of them when he is away. If our children are sick, we take turns staying home from work, both of our jobs are equally important to our team.
Our teamwork makes it easier for both of us to pursue what we want in life outside of our family while still putting our family first. Mike lets me know when he has important dates on his calendar when I need to step up and I let him know when I have a deadline that I cannot miss. He supports me in all my entrepreneurial endeavors with no questions asked.
The best part of our team is knowing that our children are watching us. They are witnessing that they can find a soulmate who respects their careers and that they can have a family and a career at the same time. We instill in our children that they need to be able to support themselves financially so that they can pick their spouses to be their teammates and not people that they must rely on but people that they choose to rely on.
