There are two generally rare resources in this world: time and money. For the majority of my short life, I have prioritized the latter. That is, until I found financial independence. The person I am today would be unrecognizable to my former self. I have become the type of gal who pays for my time. And now that I am a mother, I have decided to hire a part-time nanny to regain some of it back.
As I age, time becomes an essence. It is rarer, shorter, and therefore more valuable. Project Buy-Back-My-Time is a mostly experimental season wherein I test how much value hiring a nanny adds to our lives. Since I am still the frugal person I once was, I have decided that offsetting the $25/hour price tag of a nanny with more valuable tasks justifies my decision. Now this doesn’t necessarily mean work more, earn more, or save more. This just means focusing my energy during those freed up hours on the essential things in life. So what will I do for Project Buy-Back-My-Time?
Project Buy-Back-My-Time Activities
- Take care of myself. Simple routines missed during the early months of motherhood such as cutting my nails, brushing my hair, putting on lotion, getting some shut eye require attention.
- Feed my soul. Reading, writing, and exercising are all habits that dropped when I went back to work after Casey. I’d like to say I prioritized sleep, but the sad truth was that I was wiling away on social media as my brain and body wilted under the strain of balancing work and life. I am excising this gross habit with the knowledge that I paid for this time as my fuel.
- Family management. A lot of organizing and planning got dropped once we became parents. Things that I used to do such as organizing get-togethers, keeping the house stocked, and finding activities to engage in were thrown out the window. Now I can finally keep up with the family calendar, avoid running out of basic household items, and keep us a bit more afloat at home.
- Tidy the home. The nanny helps a lot with keeping our space clean. She washes dishes, cleans the floors, and even does Casey’s laundry. But I also have the time to make things neat and tidy. I clean our bathrooms, freshen up the sheets, and organize the paperwork. All of which have been very much neglected these last few months.
- Connect with family and friends. I am finally checking in on the people that matter. I am also finally responding to my text messages!
- Plan Activities for Casey. The problem with being the active caregiver 100% of the time is that there is no space to improve, make adjustments, and plan for fun stuff. Not that going on walks, reading books, and being together isn’t fun. But now I have time to think of future vacations, look into extracurricular activities, scope out potential friends in the neighborhood, and research free local events. Because the caregiving is provided by someone else, I can focus on the fun stuff!
- Advance myself in my career. When Casey was two months old, I signed up for an Invisalign course and finally got licensed to be a provider. I had been thinking about it for years, but for some reason, giving birth to my son gave me the inspiration to take action. It changed the way I practiced dentistry for the better. My scope of practice expanded tremendously and I enjoy my job much more. I want to be the type of mother that exemplifies the growth mindset. Learning new skills will also help offset that nanny fee!
- Find ways to save money. I would say we have our finances all set up. We have automatic payments for bills, a budgeting protocol, and pay-yourself-first habits down pat. But let me tell you that despite all of this, I learned that saving money is still an active and intentional practice. We easily fell into mindless consumerism when life got busy and hard. Our survival mode had us spending needlessly. It takes time to think through a purchase. It requires mental energy to find creative solutions over quick ones It’s nice to finally be doing that again.
- Do nothing at all. Finally, the activity I struggle with the most. I am buying back the ability to do nothing at all. I have found that the passing of time depends on how I act. Time is a perceived reality, and when I am constantly going after a to-do list, my time passes ever so quickly. Likewise, my memory registers nothing when I am hurried. So I am practicing doing less, and sometimes doing nothing at all. I want to slow this phase of my life. I want to simply watch Casey develop with the nanny so that I can laser focus on him. I want to remember the way he registers how to balance his weight. Or to catch the flicker in his eye when he sees something new … to see those wheels turning in his head. As he absorbs the world around him, I want to absorb mine too. And I couldn’t do it when I was busy doing things. As much as we would like to think it can, our minds simply cannot process two things at the exact same time.
While the verdict is still out as to whether $25/hour is worth the help, my bias is definitely already decided. Obviously, because I wouldn’t have hired one in the first place. The challenge, however, is continually working towards making it truly worth it by doing the things that REALLY matter.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
