In my brief “series” today about work travel as a single parent, I have been sharing my personal experiences and observations about what it is like to have to leave one’s family and travel –however briefly–for work. For me, one of the most exhausting parts of traveling for work as a single parent is actually coming home…
Coming home from a business trip for me is more than just handing out presents and showing the digital photos I took (although I do that certainly)–there is generally a house to be put back together, shopping to get done, and catching up with my children. The last time I came home, there were a dozen phone messages on my voice mail from two schools–obviously the time I took to notify the schools that I would be gone and that my children’s father would be the “go to” person were either ignored or they couldn’t get through to him so they called me. I admit, it was incredibly stressful and for a couple days I entertained thoughts that I would never be able to leave home again and felt sorry for myself because all of the “village members” I’d asked for help with my kids just hadn’t stepped up. I was tired, jet-lagged, and overwhelmed with feeling like I had to put my family and home life back together after only two weeks away.
After a couple days, however, I had a bit more perspective. I learned to focus on the kids first; the house and unpacking can wait. Catching up, making myself available to hear about their lives instead of trying to tell them about my trip, and expecting them to want more “family time” were realities and priorities. My kids did not want to hear about what I had been up to in a foreign country for two weeks as much as they wanted to tell me about what had been going on in their lives and have me help get things back to normal. Now that I know that, even though coming home is still tough, I can at least get my head straight on what will be required of me before I walk back in the door.