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Mar 6Liked by Michael Venutolo-Mantovani

I feel similarly in that there’s rarely anything worth sacrificing time with my family for. Having said that, I think it’s true that as parents we also need to find time to pursue the goals and passions that make us feel like ourselves. Balancing it all, though, as you point out here, is really hard. For now, I’m just embracing and appreciating the fact I’m at a stage where my little ones need their dad around, and there’s gonna be a day they won’t as much—and that’s when I can fully disappear into my projects and traveling with my wife.

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Absolutely. I'm only now just coming out of the tunnel of babies (now that my kids are 6 and 2.5) and my wife and I finally able to start to resume the pursuit of the things we love. For me it's music and cycling. For her, it's running.

But, to your last point, it's such an easy sacrifice to make knowing that this era is so damn fleeting. I'll have plenty of time to ride my bike when my kids are grown. All of the older guys in my riding group remind me of that. Mostly when they talk about how much they miss having little kids at home.

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Mar 6Liked by Michael Venutolo-Mantovani

I enjoy the benefits of being a retired Army Dad with toddlers. I get lots of time with my kids, and choose when and how much time to use doing other things. This is a luxury that makes me extremely grateful. Dad on.

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Yessir. And any time I tire of my current life as a freelance writer, and dream about a staff job somewhere, Emily always reminds me that I can fuck of when I want, to do whatever I want (the answers to which are usually: "3pm" and "hang out with my kids.")

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