Kim Neville

It’s been a month since Shane and I both started working from home and splitting the child care duties. So far it’s been fantastic for both of us. It took a couple weeks to work out the kinks. Shane had to get used to a shorter work day and to working through the distractions of home life. Because sometimes there’s no stopping your two year-old from running into Daddy’s office to get a high-five for going pee on the potty.

As for me, I had to adjust to having a lot more writing time and a lot more freedom. No, I’m not complaining. It’s just that with so much extra time it’s easy to get distracted by fun stuff on the Internet, or shopping trips, or sunny days that beg for beach walks. I had to re-discipline myself.

Things are very, very good for us right now. One of us works in the morning while the other takes care of Cass. We meet for lunch and then switch until dinner. Every day, we both get to create stuff that excites us. And every day, we both get to spend quality one-on-one time with our amazing little girl. On Sundays, nobody works and we spend time as a family. It’s a perfect balance.

Now, if we can just make some money so we can afford to continue living this beautiful life…

Although a lot of good stuff came out of 2009, I have to say I’m glad to leave this year behind. It was a tough one for me. I won’t get into it other than to say that a long Canadian winter (which I’d never experienced before, having spent my entire life in and around Vancouver, where the temperature rarely dips below zero), plus the isolation and boredom of playing the role of small-town housewife, did not suit me one bit. The second half of the year, thankfully, was much better than the first. Summer arrived, we sold our house, I wrote a novel, we moved West.

Our new life in Vancouver is the culmination of everything Shane and I have worked toward over the last decade. Way back in 2002, Shane was making BMX videos for a living, I was writing my first clumsy short stories and we were drowning in debt. We made some decisions – to clean up our finances, take our relationship seriously and build a family. Once we accomplished those things, we began to dream of a life where both of us could spend our days following our passions. For me, of course, that meant writing. For Shane, it ultimately meant making games on his own.

We’re there. Both of us working from home, creating things we’re passionate about, raising our daughter together, surrounded by an incredible network of friends and family.

2010 can only be amazing.