Baby on the Brain

Baby on the BrainFor some reason today at work the conversation was about child bearing and children - and what to expect when having a child. I primarily work with men so I found it interesting to hear their perspective on children.We talked about arriving late to work. I'm known (and have always been known) as the early bird and I absolutely hate being late. I like to be on-time. I believe it shows a sign of respect to the event organizer, and the the company I work for.After I mentioned that my coworkers told me that'll change when I have children. "Oh you'll be late to everything!"Then I started thinking... the system isn't set up to help you be on-time. And when they say it takes a village - it really does take a village. How can I take my child to school when I have to be at work at 8:00 am and their daycare is at 8:30am? They get out at 3pm and I don't leave work until 5:00 - oh lets not forget about traffic. That'll just ruin everything.I remember what it was like for my mom when she was a single parent. She worked as a nurse taking the evening and overnight shifts. Often times she wouldn't be able to make the events we wanted to attend after school because she needed to rest for work. I think its crazy how people's lives - here in America for the most part- is surrounded and infused by work. I heard it when I traveled to Jamaica, "you live to work, we work to live". It threw me off course. I didn't understand what he meant. Until he explained it further. Life is more than going to work everyday. However the way these systems are set up and they way we've been trained to think, and work - its difficult to break that cycle.I have an interest in travel, explore other cultures, and connect with different people. I believe it expands your thinking and understanding of the world. It reminds me of a time when I was in high school and my track coach kept telling us, "just travel a ten mile radius where you live and things will be different." Back then I had no idea what he meant. However, as I've gotten older I see exactly what he meant. The world is more than just the four corners you're familiar with. It's much more vast and people do things differently due to cultures beliefs traditions and systems.I think if something like history was taught from a different lens of exploration much more people would be interested in traveling the world and creating new experiences. They'd have even more interesting stories to tell and share. They'd have more to contribute.At work we talk about travel all the time, and today another of my coworkers came over to my desk to talk about the next time we had off. She talks about her children all the time - all the places she'd like to take them. How can that happen when you're tied to a desk? Some people allow having a baby prevent them from traveling the world, other people strap their babies to their hips and travel the world with them.For now the babies can stay on the brain and help motivate me for where I want to be in life. I don't have to worry about that too much right now because I don't have any babies at the moment. What I can do is ensure that I put in the "work" now to have the ability to get to where I want to be later.