What advice would you offer other working parents as far as striking a balance between your family life and your professional life? 

Michael Weiss, father of two (Annie Mae and Christopher), and two- time world bronze medalist figure skater, responds:

“I think balance is probably the biggest focus of my life—that’s exactly what I try to maintain. I want to be the best at my job, I want to be the best father and the best husband, I want to be the best family man, but with everything I do, I want it to be balanced. If anything does get out of balance, it’s easy to recognize it. If you and your spouse are not getting enough alone time, you should try to schedule a night out where it’s just the two of you. Maybe that afternoon you go to your kid’s hockey game, but then out for a light dinner and dancing together.

When the kids are struggling, or they’ve had a bad day, I say ‘it’s time to move my attention’ and I shift to that. It’s time to focus. A lot of times, when you see the kids going through a rough day, work needs to be set aside and it’s time to focus on the kids. We might have a father/son day, or a daddy/daughter day, and the same thing applies with mommy/daughter and mommy/son days. Maybe you take your daughter out to dinner, or go to the mall and pick out a dress, or Chris and I have father/son days where we play hockey for an hour, go for a bike ride, then maybe go out to Pizza Hut or Chuck E Cheese to eat—depending on how we want to splurge that day! It’s important to see what part of your life needs attention, and focus in on it at that time. Other times, I really have to focus on work, and the hard part is balancing my priorities.

What I’ve found is that I’m happiest if my family is happy. When my wife and kids are happy, the job, a lot of times, takes a backseat. I never look back and think of my parents and say ‘I wish I had a cooler bike,’ or ‘I wish I had that cool video game’…I look back at the time I spent with my parents, and that’s what’s most valuable. Kids don’t care about your salary and they don’t care how big your house is, but parents often focus on that because they want the best for their kids and they want to work as hard as they possibly can. Sometimes, what’s best for kids is not that extra $30,000 a year; it’s an extra hour a day shooting baskets or throwing a football or studying or playing chess or talking about their day with you.

When my family is happy, it’s easier for me to put a little bit less into the business side of my life, and instead focus on my family. My wife is in a business now where she designs and builds custom wine cellars throughout the course of day, but when the kids come home, she shifts her focus and puts that aside to get them to tae kwon do, or violin, or voice lessons. It’s time to focus on mommy time and family time. Everybody deals with that.

I have friends with four, five, and six kids, and it’s mind boggling how they’re able to balance their time with all the activities, especially now because the kids do so much after school…and then there’s the homework! Once three o’clock comes around and they’re home from school, you really have to focus on everything they need only to hopefully get them in bed by 9pm so you and your spouse have a few hours before you go to bed to spend some time together.

Michael Weiss is a two- time world bronze medalist figure skater. He’s also husband of more than ten years to his wife, Lisa, and father to Annie Mae and Christopher. In 2004, Weiss received the “Golden Dad Award,” and in 1999, the National Fatherhood Initiative named him Father of the Year. He invites everyone to come on out to “U.S. & World Champions Live,” a charity figure skating show in Arlington, VA on September 6th, which raises money for the next generation of U.S. Olympic hopefuls. You can also catch Weiss on the 2008-2009 Emmy Award Winning Smucker’s Stars on Ice tour. For more information, check out his website at www.michaelweiss.org.

Stay tuned for more Ask Dad columns featuring Michael Weiss and other dads. Sometimes father does know best!