Monday morning: alarm goes off at 6:30a.m. and snooze button hit a few times for those extra moments of almost guilty sleep. 6:50a.m.: roaming around the house like a zombie trying to get my body working - my brain is not yet awake - and need to get a bottle of formula ready for the baby. 7:15a.m.: baby is fed and the 8-year-old is finally out of bed getting dressed. 8:00a.m.: we, the baby, 8-year-old, and me, are off to the bus stop down the street; mom is already on her way to work. 8:20a.m.: back to the house with the baby and have to feed the dog, not to mention myself. Where is that coffee? 8:30a.m.: I have my coffee in hand and the baby is half-asleep again. After a long sigh, I sit at my desk and start work....
Tuesday morning rolls around, which is my 'big marketing day'. My routine is much of the aforementioned. However, this day I need to fit in a conference with Phil, a financial guru I collaborate with, and a long term care insurance provider friend of his. We are working on developing a seminar, which is still in its early stages. After that I need to switch the baby over to 'mom' so that I can go to my LeTip leads group in Longmont, Colorado, a thirty minute drive away.
Around 2:00p.m. I am back home with the baby and the dog needs desperately to go out side to do her "business," I need to get back inside to get my business done - no, not like hers in case you were wondering. I am fixated on the clock on my computer realizing I need to leave in less than an hour-and-a-half to pick up Austin at the bus stop, the 8-year-old as you now know. Reflecting with a sudden ounce of anxiety, I am thinking back to when I was scurrying around earlier that day with a baby in a car seat in one hand and briefcase in the other, wearing a business suit and feeling all the while a bit awkward for some reason imagining at that time if I were heading to a major client conference under these circumstances and what the client would think of me bringing a screaming diminutive to add his input. Luckily, Phil and his friend are understanding and enjoyed seeing Matthew, the baby, despite his fussy interjections. I have to count my blessings that Daffney, my 'other half', has the flexibility to watch him once in a while for me to take care of important meetings.
Circumstances nicely came together with desire for me, I suppose. What I mean is that I wanted to be able to be both an estate planner and get out of the court house grind as well as work from home to start out my practice (office overhead being a major consideration). The ancillary to this was when starting out a baby was soon to come, and one year and three months later after setting out on my own he was here indeed. Some may see this as a "snag" in their plans to start their own practice; I saw it as a destiny, a new challenge to tackle.
I would be remiss not to mention that some panic did not initially force me to lose my cool. There were those intense grips anxiety months ago when trying to imagine how I would be able to do it all. I do not know how I could do it without Daffney, and I am indebted to her if not completely amazed by how replete she is with love and devotion. Then it all came together both in mind and in being - things just started to fall into place. As far as steady income from my end, that is a challenge from time to time. Daffney is the full time career professional with the '9 to 5' job, hence my indebtedness to her. But, there are those months where things are hard as you can imagine. Fortunately, I teach paralegal and English night classes which brings in enough to get by.
Sacrifice comes in the beginning, and in the middle; sometimes, in the end. It certainly is front end loaded for me and those like me, struggling to make their way, claim their stake, you know the clichés. Starting a practice with a family, especially with a new child, is like working two full-time jobs. Yet, being the one 'at home', both homemaker and fledgling solo attorney, has its definite rewards and stresses. The best thing of all is being able to have the quality time with Matthew who is next to me now as I type. Despite the stresses and time constraints being a good family man and attorney can be done successfully, and eventually I will be the one switching roles with Daffney. When that day comes it will be hard to go to work without my boy, having him there by my side, watching him grow, hearing his sounds, and seeing his smiles.
--Frank A. Cseke
