One Season Ends as a New Begins
Tax season for many means wading through receipts and making lists of business expenses. You pile everything together neatly - or maybe just throw it all together in a box - and proudly hand it to your tax preparer as you shuffle into their office. Half an hour later you know whether you have to pay or will get a nice chunk of change in your banking account. You have conquered tax season. You are done and you survived. You bet you were your tax preparer's craziest and most complex client, but trust me - you weren't. You are good until next year and vow to keep track of business expenses better - but, reality is that you will keep making this vow each year and your tax preparer will just laugh knowing the impeding truth behind next year's pile of receipts. Tax season is different for me. Yes, I pay taxes, but my hubby handles all the paperwork. All of it for us and 500+ clients each year. It's long - and taxing (I just couldn't resist). Each year it seems to start sooner. We find a rhythm as the days get long; our oldest wakes up to cuddle with daddy and I make plans to break up the long and endless days of "Mommy, mommy, mommy!" This tax season is coming to a close and, although I'm excited to see my hubby again, I know it means transition. Five months have passed. He has had one day off per week split between spending time together and resting. Our girls are five months older. Winter was just beginning and now summer is almost here. Sometimes it's easier to hold onto the way I do things around the house and the schedule I keep. I control when the girls eat, nap, play and do almost everything - besides when they cry or ask for something (which happens all day long!). My comfy schedule gets assaulted when Kevin re-emerges from tax season. I love having someone else here who treats parenting as a partner and is my equal. It's great until I remember he has ideas too. Feed the girls lunch without a veggie? Oh, she doesn't need to wear a coat? Bedtime is a half hour (or - gasp - hour later) than normal? Who is this person and what do they think they are doing? Yes, I am guilty of thinking - and probably showing - that his ideas are wrong, but in reality they are just different. For the past five months I have adjusted the schedule and routine for the girls and myself based on what's needed each day while Kevin has worked 10 - 14 hours a day or more in the office. He adjusts the forms and taxes for clients based on what's needed, but it doesn't mean that he would rather be in the office than be home. This is 100% true and I am so grateful he sees parenting as a partnership. We are in this together - something we remind each other of all the time. He sees his day off as a day to jump into parenting and taking care of things around the house. My awesome hubby gladly takes care of the girls while I sneak (run) outside of the house or take a nap. He does the dishes without being prompted. He even blesses us with his amazing french toast - his recipe is way better than my original one. As we transition back to parenting together as a team, I promise I will try to be open as you offer up ideas to change things like the darts rapidly firing out of your Nerf gun. I may not like it all the time, but I am so grateful that you want to offer up ideas and have my best interest and that of the girls at heart. I can genuinely say that you have the girls' and my best interest at heart. You ask me questions when you aren't sure of something or you know I would prefer something different for the girls - like what to feed Teagan. We want the same outcome - girls who are fed, well rested, generally happy, respectful, kind, Jesus loving - and sometimes (okay, it may seem all the time) we have different ideas of how to get there. We have practiced listening to each other and I see more and more how much of a blessing it is to both bring a different perspective and how our differences can be a blessing. I can't even explain how much I love seeing Anika race down the stairs to get her shoes on to help you in the garage or run to Home Depot or when Teagan is clapping as her face lights up seeing you walk into the room. Welcome back home honey. We have missed you. Click to Post