Small Batch is the Best

For those of us with demanding careers and major parenting responsibilities, one of the casualties of a true work-life balance is that you have to make sacrifices on both sides: sometimes work suffers, and sometimes family suffers.  There simply isn't enough time in the day to do everything, so some things don't get done, and you have to live with that.

Everyone gets the same amount of time in a day.  But you can do things to make the most of those scarce hours.  For me, one of the things I've taken to is "batching," which for me takes at least a couple of forms.  One is that I let a task accumulate and then do it all at once, like checking my inbox or sorting through my bills.  The other is that I combine trips, so if I have to wash the car I'll do it while I'm already out getting groceries.

Earlier this month, I was ecstatic to receive notice from my doctor's office that I could schedule my first COVID shot, which I did promptly.  A few days later, I received notice from the City of Philadelphia that I could schedule my first COVID shot at the Convention Center downtown, which I passed on since I already had an appointment.  A few days after that, I was glad to receive notice from the City that I could schedule Jada for her first COVID shot, which I did at once. 

Because of how our schedules broke, Jada's appointment was actually a few days before mine, and she asked me to accompany her, so she met me downtown and we walked there together.  It couldn't have been smoother from start to finish.  My only regret was that I should've schedule my appointment for the same time.  And, we could've scheduled our second shots for the same time.  Two trips instead of four!  Batching in action!

After kicking myself for not having the foresight to do this, I took a step back and decided to let it go.  Batching does allow me to cram more things into my schedule.  Doing this important task in two trips instead of four would have freed up precious time for me.  But there was something special about taking Jada to get vaccinated, and having the trip be just about that, rather than combined with anything else.  

Modern parenthood is like this, I guess.  Sometimes you batch because you have to.  And sometimes you do things in very small, single-serving batches, to let your kids know they are the most important thing in your life and there's nothing else in your schedule that needs to take precedent over or be combined with taking care of them.

As a coda, of course in true Huang fashion, I actually did combine Jada's COVID trip with a quick jaunt to Chinatown.  But while some of that was for functional purposes - I had a specific shopping list of things I'd been long overdue in getting there to check off - most of it was to have more time walking and talking with Jada.  Plus I bought her some snacks at the grocery store and that made her happy.