My Life as a Manny

 My Life as a Manny 

One of the things I’d like to do with this blog is to have a series of articles on a similar topic and either provide them for the week or over an extended period of time, as an update if you will. I figured what better series to start with than my life as a “Manny (man nanny),” as I’ve come to now call myself. This would of course provide perhaps some comical relief (as the name would imply); however, it’s also a good social experiment to update you on my day to day. Many of you have mentioned you’d like to either “take the same plunge” in resigning from your job or are considering it. Either way, I’td be good for you to know what you’re getting yourself into. I know that would’ve been helpful for me. It’s been a couple of weeks since I resigned, so let’s dive right in…

Week 1 

Oh wow, what an idiot. Why did I quit my job? Who would do such a thing? What the hell am I going to do now? Your wife is going to hate you.

Loser. 

Cry Baby. 

Quitter. 

Yup, that was pretty much a majority of my first week. Monday felt good because I played golf with a buddy of mine, so my mind was off of things; however, Tuesday through Thursday were rough. Self doubt and fear are certainly normal human emotions to have, and that’s what I kept telling myself, but the negative pangs of your thoughts can be challenging to overcome in the moment sometimes. 

The good news is, by Friday I had turned it around and told myself to remember why I had resigned in the first place and to simply move on with my life. You can do that now, I kept saying, you’re free from it all. Once you’ve learned to embrace that, the fact your life now becomes your own is extremely liberating. It’s amazing how quickly that feeling of regret and helplessness can be replaced with a feeling of complete and total liberation from your captors. And yes, I realize I’m making a jail or kidnapping reference; however, that’s what my job felt like for the last few years. The week ended on an extremely high note with our annual St Patrick’s Day party where I didn’t even feel uncomfortable answering questions about the “why” behind my decision. 

Week 2

Uh, it’s Monday, and you can do whatever you want today. That’s amazing. It’s not terrifying as much as it is sobering. Whereas the week prior I felt an air of failure all around me, I now feel a bit of guilt for staying at home but I’m also thankful for all the things I get to enjoy in my day. The fact I get to see Emily (my 7 year old daughter) most mornings and pick her up on most days is a tonic that would cure any ill I may be having at that moment. As anyone that knows me is already aware, I love being her Dad and having the ability to spend more time with her is a gift that I won’t squander while I’m able to enjoy it. 

Laundry and cooking. As a good Manny should do, I’ve been keeping up with all the laundry and have been cooking for both myself and the girls, I’ve even fired up the grill on a random Tuesday to throw on some chicken. Given I use a charcoal grill (because gas grills are for quitters), I never would’ve had time to do this previously on a weeknight. How about the laundry? Well, I’m keeping up with that too. We had a rainy day last week and I spent the majority of it catching up on Ted Lasso while washing/drying/folding laundry. I’m truly beginning to understand all the work my mother had to do at home to keep our house running. Please don’t mistake what I'm saying, I’m not excited to do the laundry (I don’t mind the cooking) but it’s gratifying to complete a task and feel accomplished for the day. Rarely did I feel that way in my job where I was constantly putting out a fire, apologizing for an error or attempting to push a project forward only to see it fall two rungs down a week later. The joys of corporate America have been replaced with the true joy of supporting my family in other ways while being the best Dad I can be. 

So there you have it. After two weeks, we went from downtrodden to upwardly mobile. I have zero doubt we will continue to have ups and downs throughout the journey, but it’s been interesting to see what each day brings and how I’m reacting differently to new and different challenges. For now, Manny is alive and well, thriving in my new role. I’ll check in again in a month or two.