Compassion Fatigue Solutions

Hi! Here I am, after a bit of a silence. Last week was Thanksgiving and thus no Monday post.

I am just back home after a long weekend in Chicago. Once every two years or so, I try to arrange childcare (my wonderful friend and I have a great arrangement where we help each other out) and get enough air miles to join my partner as he attends a scientific conference. The kids and I teasingly call him and his friends "neuronerds" as they are all neuroscientists and really into their science. The nerd quotient was fairly high this time around (25 000 attendees). But nerds can let their hair down with the best of them, I assure you.

Chicago is a beautiful city with stunning architecture. We walked a lot, visited the Art Institute of Chicago and ate one of the best meals I have ever had (no joke) at Topolobampo. If you love authentic mexican cuisine and are going to be in Chicago consider booking a table (way ahead of time) at this spot.

Upon my return, I had an interesting exchange with my eleven year old daughter. She reported feeling upset about all my travelling, and said that she liked it better when I didn't do so many speaking engagements, but rather stayed home all the time. I said to her "but sweetie, when I was doing clinical work 5 days a week, I often came home exhausted and grumpy, I was short-tempered with you, and I never had time or energy for anything. Now when I am not travelling, I am home a lot more, I can pick you up from school, we bake cookies, we have time for crafts, for errands...things are way better now." and she turned to me and said: "You were never grumpy. I never noticed that." Now, I don't think that is actually true, as her only goal at this time is to make her mother never leave the house again, but I thought "maybe I faked it better than I thought."

Ah, the joys of being a parent - guilt on tap every time you turn around.

In actual fact, I am home far more than I am away, and this is by far the best career choice I have ever made (and the most professionally satisfying choice to boot.) But it did make me think about the juggling most of do between all of the demands on our time.

It's never simple to simplify our lives. Ironically.