Hello My Family!

It started when Philip was just a baby. I'd come home from my office at the end of the day and announce, "Hello my family!"

Baby Philip loved the immediate attention I was ready to give him each time I returned home at the end of the day. When he learned to crawl, he would head off to meet me at the door. When he learned to walk and to run, all activity would stop in favor of rushing to meet me at the door. When he learned to speak, the announcement would be returned with "Daddy!" Even his mom would join him in the excitement of the moment.

Chloe was born when Philip was four years old. With her brother's encouragement, she was just as eager to participate in the early evening tradition. We had to make some rules once Chloe was old enough to realize her brother could outrun her to catch the first Daddy-hug. Philip would hold her hand, and together they would speed-walk into my arms. I'd kneel. Chloe would hug from the left and Philip would hug from the right. After a big squeeze and lots of "Daddy" chants, I’d give Amelia a quick kiss and then head over with the children to a big couch in either the living room or the family room of our home in San Geraldo. With Chloe on one side, Philip on the other and me sitting in the middle, I'd hear about their day. Amelia would referee the order in which the kids would speak so they wouldn’t talk over one another. She’d also translate some of the child-talk descriptions of the day’s activities.

The tradition helped our kids accept that their dad would be gone for most of the day five out of seven days and would sometimes even need to work on weekends. We had the privilege of having Amelia as a stay-at-home mom until Chloe turned nine years old. When we moved to Hermes in 2002 and my commuting time increased, the tradition remained just as important. During 2007 and 2008, I had a particularly long commute, and the tradition continued. More recently, Philip’s enjoyment of computer games now often tones down his response to a simple “Hi Dad,” shout from upstairs. At other times, he wants to engage me right away. In contrast, Chloe still always runs to me yelling, “Daddy!”

When I was let go from my long-commute job in January 2009, I indulged myself in seeing the kids off to school and picking them up at the end of the school day. Chloe particularly enjoyed the situation of having me home so much more. We had to explain that looking for a job was a job itself and so if I was working at the computer or speaking on the phone during the hours I would normally be at the office, she had to act as if I was actually at the office.

A little over a week ago I secured a contract-to-hire sales job working from home. We were not quite set up with a sequestered office in the house. The kids’ playroom was a possibility, but I rejected that idea in favor of opening a large fold-up table in the master bedroom suite. And so my first day began at 6:30 AM and I was behind a closed door for the entire day. The only exception was when I made myself some lunch, but nobody even saw that happen. By 6:30 PM, I’d worked a twelve hour day. It felt good to have a job again. It felt good to have no commute. I powered down my laptop and folded up the table to call it a day.

I walked out the door from the master suite, realizing my work day was over, as if I’d just left the office. Then I realized I was now officially home. As I began walking down the stairs, it seemed perfectly natural to belt out, “Hello my family!” In like manner, the response from Philip and Chloe was no different than if I had made the same pronouncement walking in through the front door.