Life & Times Series: Part 3

Father Time presents: 

“Life & Times – Fathers and Their Views about Time”

Featuring a real-life dad offering his take on time 

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Kyle H. (New Mexico)

Age: 32
Occupation: Owner of NMPreps LLC, Publisher of NMPreps.com
Status: Married, two children. Son age 7, daughter age 3.
Wife is in Accounts Receivable/Part Time at Chem-dry of Albuquerque, New Mexico

FT: Describe a key distinction you’ve made about time as a single man versus being a married man with children?

KH: When you’re a single man time almost stands still. Days are long, and you can control time in a sense. Dictate your own weekly schedule. However, being married with children requires more of a timetable and routine. Days are more like weeks and weeks are like months. I tell people this all the time, as soon as I had children, my life has sped up. With that being said, time means more now than ever, I cherish moments more than I did as a single man.

FT: Describe how you and your wife manage time within the family: creating free/alone time for each partner, family time with the kids, couple/date night. Do you follow a strict or loose schedule as a family?

KH: For myself, I have a lot of alone time/personal time as I work from home each week. It’s good for me. For Rebeca, she is active as a mother could be, and partakes in a weekly women’s sorority, which she really seems to like. As for family time, we as a family go to events, take the kids to the park, watch movies, play in the backyard, attend school functions, etc. Rebeca and I have the kids in bed by 8 pm, so we generally hang out then and also have a date night once a month when the kids go to visit their grandparents.  These items mentioned are loose, we don’t have a set schedule for time, we just seem to make it happen.

FT: What has been the biggest challenge with time as a family (e.g. not having enough time, etc.)

KH: There are two challenging times during the week: 7 to 9 am, when we are getting the kids ready for school. It’s just a chaotic scene no matter how prepared we are. Almost comical. Brushing teeth, combing hair, helping them with their clothes, breakfast, etc. It’s a process. The second time of the day when it’s challenging is 7 to 8 pm, which is the bed-time routine. Brushing teeth, bath-time, making sure all the stuffed animals are in the right place, getting milk for the baby, etc.

FT: How does where you live affect how you view time? How do you use your time in your hometown or state?

KH: Albuquerque I would say is not a fast placed city, but we have a weekly schedule that keeps us busy. Rebeca and I have great/super flexible schedules. She works from 8 to 2 pm, and I work from home. Kaden gets out at 2 pm, and the baby gets out at 3:30 pm. We usually make sure homework is completed, take Kaden to Karate, make dinner. That is standard. Frequent weekends hanging out with family is common.

FT: Describe a time success story you’ve had as a father or as a family.

KH: We really stepped outside the norm when we toured Europe for a month in 2014. Yes, we took our children (5 and 1 at the time) to the UK, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain. It was so refreshing to travel, and though travel days and living quarters were tight at times, the memories of being together were very much fulfilling and lifelong. Doing something of that magnitude was more than exciting, it was thrilling.

One dad life hack on time: Create family videos as much as you can and upload them to YouTube via a private account. Its a great way to look back on the great times.

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Photo credit: Robert Couse-Baker.

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