Before we moved to Japan, I told my husband that I would not "put up with" Japanese work hours. He brought this up while going through the job acceptance process and was reassured the company keeps "American working hours." This means, when my husband isn't traveling for business, and barring a random meeting or team dinner here and there, he eats breakfast each morning with our son and is home to eat dinner with us by 6:30 pm.
I love having my husband home with us. I'm even more happy when he works from home. He sets up his laptop on the dining table and focuses on his work. He can take a few minutes, when his schedule allows, to pick up our son from school or discuss something over a cup of tea. If he wraps up early, he will often times start the rice for dinner.
While I am so happy to be together, I have to be careful about who I tell about this. Many families I know have dads that barely ever see their wife and kids. They might have breakfast with them or leave before the kids get out of bed. They always stay at work late into the night, often times catching the last train home after midnight. It is common for business men that are also fathers to only see their kids one or two days a week. So, describing my husband's work hours can look like bragging.
My husband worked from home today. So, when he wrapped up work shortly after 5 pm, it was immediately family time. We had dinner and played board games until our son's bedtime. At one point, the boys were laughing so hard because they kept landing on the same square again and again.
I feel so blessed, especially in moments like this.
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