The Price of Balance

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On a cool Monday morning in the busy city of Lagos, the cool breeze from outside blew into the room through the half-open curtains. Chidera's alarm rang, waking her up from her sleep, she checked the time and a notification came into her phone-a board meeting scheduled at her office.

She got into the bathroom in a jiffy, had a quick bath and changed into a pink suit. A mouth-watering aroma emerged from the kitchen where her husband, Emeka was preparing noodles for the children. She stopped and looked at him for a second, feeling a sting of guilt, she had missed last night's dinner due to her work load at the office.

"Hey honey! You look beautiful as this morning." Emeka complimented his wife. "Thank you baby." Chidera replied.

"You haven't touched your breakfast?" Emeka asked his wife. Just when she was about to settle down to start eating the meal, she checked the time on her smart watch- it was almost time for the meeting. "Honey I won't be able to eat this now...I would be late." She said as she covered back her meal.

By 8am she was in her office located at the 10th floor of a tall skyscraper building in Lagos. She sat on her executive chair, a small portrait of her together with her family tucked in one corner of her desk. Her colleagues admired her and her junior staffs looked up to her-an independent and hardworking woman. But behind the scene was an exhausted woman who was having issues at home, trying to balance work and family.

Chidera checked her reminders, her daughter-Amara was having a singing competition in school today. She buried her head in her palms, feeling bad as she knew she won't be able to attend.

By 9pm, Chidera returned home. She met Emeka on the couch, a remote in his hands as he stared blankly at her. "She waited for you." She was singing at school...hoping you would show and watch her but you never did.

Chidera took a deep breath while observing her daughter from a distance,thinking about how she would explain herself as she immediately went and took a seat beside her. "I'm so sorry honey, I didn't miss it on purpose, I just had a really tight schedule." She said to Amara whose face was written with disappointment.

"So demanding that your own family can't even spend sometime with you?" Emeka cut in.

"Please don't think of it that way." Chidera tried to defend herself but her husband wasn't buying any of her explanations.

"At this tender age is when our daughter needs you the most but she never gets to spend time with you, you always claim to be busy at work. Are you the only staff the company's got? Better still, if the job is too demanding you can quit. That night, Chidera pondered on her husband's words.

The next morning, Chidera arrived her office and sat down, after a long thought she let out a loud sigh. She began writing her resignation later, when she was done she went straight to her directors office and dropped the letter on his marble desk.

"What is this?" Her director asked as he finished reading the contents of the letter. "You can't do this...you are the best we've got right now. We can double your salary if you want." He continued, with a sad voice.

"No sir, this doesn't have anything to do with the salary. I just have a family that needs my attention, my kids are growing I need to be there for them. I can't balance between this job and my family I have to choose one, I'm sorry sir." Chidera said to the director as she walked out of his office.

She got back home and began working from home with her computer, that way she was able to balance between work and family. After a duration of 3 months everything felt different. Chidera now made meals for the family, checked her daughter's assignment, drove her to school and spent enough time with her husband.

She now drafted a new calendar, including family hangouts. One bright afternoon her daughter came to her with a beautiful drawing of her mother cooking in the kitchen. Chidera looked at the portrait and tears streamed freely from her eyes.

"It's beautiful." She complimented her daughter's drawing as she hugged her tightly.

As they embraced warmly, Chidera soon realized she had made the right decision that was best for everyone and she felt a feeling of satisfaction. No amount of promotion in the office or salary could replace the happiness in her home.