Two years and one day.
That’s the length of time between the day I began staying home with Evan full time when his mom returned to work in late 2007, and when I return to the world of gainful employment. I got word today that I’ve been hired – ironically, by the same TV station I left in such a hurry at the end of 2006. I’m not going back in any creative capacity, but as a “board op” – the people who push the buttons to switch to local ads during a commercial break, and then back to the show, as gracefully as possible – or at least that’s the theory. Given that this is the position I started out with in teevee way back in ’93, I think I might still have what it takes to put it into practice. It’s not a glamorous job but it is an important one: if nobody plays the commercials, nobody gets paid. If anyone wants to correct me on this, go ahead, but I don’t think I have ever treated anyone like or, God forbid, called anyone a “lowly board op.” I used to do it way back when. It’s a lot of concentration (often during shows one can’t stand to watch in the first place), and the teevee world hinges on someone being there who can push the buttons at the right time.
And I’m OK with that. I’ve got an outlet for my creative jones, and I’ll still have time for that. It may, in fact, be for the best that I’m not in a creative position at the station; I won’t be too burned out to do the cool stuff that I love on my own time. Plus, I’m bringing in much-needed $$$. I’ve recently been selling off huge wodges of stuff – DVDs, CDs, other things, stuff that I didn’t acquire with the idea that I’d flip it later. Stuff that I thought I’d keep around so that maybe I could enjoy it with my son at a later date. I haven’t been divesting myself of these things with a smile on my face…I’ve been doing it out of sheer bloody desperation because I’m bringing in zero money most of the time – an odd random PDF DVD selling just ain’t cutting it. The money I made at OVGE and CCAG a couple of weekends ago wasn’t bad – hell, it was actually a pretty impressive haul. It was also spoken for by the time I’d even counted it: however much I made, whatever amount that was, it was needed.
I’m not making a gigantic amount of cash at this gig, to be truthful, but any increase from zero is 100%. And I don’t think it’s much of an exaggeration to say that this will probably save my marriage. And it’ll also be nice to have ammo to throw at a select few folks who have convinced themselves, in recent months, to buy into the delusion that I “haven’t been doing anything” for the past two years.
I have been doing something. I’ve been raising a kid and doing my best to provide for him in a context where I’m also staying home with him. I would not trade the past two years for anything; no amount of money is worth not being around for your child, and frankly, I think a lot of dads cheat themselves out of the opportunity to watch their little ones grow up. I didn’t, and I’m glad I didn’t. This will be a big sacrifice though, as my shift will keep me from being present for story time at bed time most nights, and I won’t be able to spend time with my son most evenings. And since this is a reboot with no carry-over of any “seniority” I might have accrued on my last stint, I’ll be working plenty of holidays again.
That’ll just make the time I do get to spend with little E that much more precious, though. You might see me on the internets a little less, and a rethink of theLogBook.com’s “daily” schedule may yet be forthcoming as a result.
Whatever happens, though, I’m still his daddy… and in the end, I’m doing this for him. So ends the stay-at-home-dad phase of my life… now it’s time to get back to work. (Work where I actually get sick days and vacation time – trust me, hanging out with an infant or a toddler = more work than some people can apparently imagine.)
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