Living the dream

The other day, a colleague called:

Me: How are you?

Him: Oh, living the dream. What about you?

Me: Oh, well, I’m leaning in.

This follows a conversation last week with a friend just returning to work after maternity leave and trying to get used to the new routine of two kids dropped off/picked up, endless pump and bottle washing, not to mention saying goodbye to baby in the morning, and trying to get dinner made when all people need to be attached to you between 6 and 6:30 PM. As we discussed the overwhelm of the logistics of it all, I said to her “I think this is called ‘having it all’.”

I’ve also been swapping email with my dad about him coming to rescue us when I need to attend a training in San Francisco during a week Steve is on-call (24/7). Because life naturally works out that the week the training is scheduled is a week he is on call. Of course. He said, “you are just trying to have too much fun at once,” to which I replied “It’s called living the dream, I believe.”

But even as I hit send I realized that my snarkiness was a bit much. What else could I want? Because here’s the deal:

-     - I have two healthy, wonderful children.

-     - Steve and I just celebrated 11 years of marriage.

-     - My husband’s career is rocking (and will soon allow us to "settle down").

-     - My career is actually becoming just that – a career, not just a job. I have colleagues who have supported me in   working 3000 miles away and a boss willing to invest in me.  

-     - This job that keeps me up at night and wakes me early also allows me flexibility to attend to my kids’ needs       and events. Not to mention, to pay rent, put food on the table, pay for swimming lessons and camp, etc.

-     - We live in a great, safe place, literally surrounded by friends.

-     - Although most of our family is too far, both my parents are willing to fly across the country to help us out.

If that’s not living the dream, what is? The logistics may exhaust me sometimes, but what would I want instead?

I think we have defined our “all”, and we’re having it. It may not always be graceful, but – amidst this summer of terrible news – I’m going to work on making sure it is grateful.