Time over money

Once again, M and I are making one of our unorthodox decisions about our careers and our income and our family life.

Effective immediately, M is reducing his hours from 40 per week to 32. This means a pay cut, of course, but it will also mean he can spend more time with our son L, and it will free me up to work more. Or rather, to work the same amount I'm working now, but to do less work on the weekends and in the evenings.

Ever since I started my new freelance gig, I've been working every weekend, and most nights until way too late. And while L is at camp every morning, I race home and put in a couple hours' worth of work. And then I pick him up at camp and give him lunch, and then he watches a video while I do more work, while the summer is passing us by outside.

This is a bit scary, because freelance work is notoriously inconsistent, and this is a new gig and I'm still working out the kinks and so is my client. So we're reducing our steady income and relying more on irregular income. Also, I had high hopes of saving most of my freelance income for things like a different house, etc. With this new arrangement, we're pretty much guaranteed to be in this house for a long long time. There will be no moving up or moving out.

But I feel good about it. Money, schmoney, right?

And hopefully I'll be able to get a little more sleep.