a collection of thoughts by a Stay At Home Dad
by Stuart
The kids are excited for my wife to come home in the morning after working a night shift. They want her to make them breakfast as they all hang around for an hour of social time.
As with most of us, some mornings are less perfect than others for my kids. And sometimes parents don’t have the emotional fortitude to not react.
Child: This crepe tastes weird.
Father to ungrateful child: You know what it tastes like? It tastes like the last crepe Mama will make for you.
by Stuart
My life is sometimes a fairy-tale. Unfortunately, that fairy-tale is entitled, “Baldylocks and the Three Boors” … Once upon a time, there was a kindly old soul named Baldylocks and he had three boors. Every morning, Baldylocks woke up to make breakfast for the three boors. The first boor complained, “My oatmeal is TOO HOT !!!” The second boor whined, “My oatmeal doesn’t have enough MILK !!!” The third boor sat quietly, because in his oatmeal just happened to be perfect on this day, so why bother saying anything if you don’t have something to complain about.
by Stuart
After almost seven years, my wife and I are having our first weekend away from the kids. A couple of years ago we had a couple of opportunities to head out to a hotel and spa for a night but were back the next morning. This time, we’re going to Vegas as my wife has a training class there so I’m just buying my ticket and we’re off. The first time we did this was a couple of months before we got engaged and it was in Kauai. It’s fun reflecting back nine years to that trip and everything that’s come into our lives since then.
My wife is feeling a little sad and missing the kids. She’s also a little curious/concerned that I feel none of those things. Then again, for me, it’s still to early to miss them. It’s six a.m. on the morning after I dropped them off at my sister-in-law’s place and right now it just feels like the blissful quiet pre-dawn time that I enjoy before the daily chaos. Perhaps around 9 a.m., when it’s still quiet, I’ll start to feel the emptiness. Until then, I’ll just enjoy a quiet cup of coffee.
by Stuart
As my daughter gets older (she’s going on seven), she has less use for me in certain instances, such as doing her hair (the three-horned unicorn look I invented was quite forward-thinking, I thought) and fashion (cheetah print stretch pants and horizontal multi-colored striped blouse tells the world to look at your inner beauty). Today, however, my daughter really needed a Daddy. She was getting ready for school and freaked out because she couldn’t find a uniform skirt in her dresser to wear – she only had pants and she absolutely couldn’t wear pants, oh no, it had to be a skirt. I calmly walked into her room and started to soothe her. I realized that the reason she couldn’t find a skirt is because they were all in the laundry hamper so I went to the hamper, stuck my hand in and fished around to find one of her skirts. I demonstrated the sniff check that indicates whether a given article of clothing is ‘clean enough.’ I smiled as I tossed the skirt to her and told her to get continue getting ready. I suppose that one day her instincts will kick in and she’ll unlearn this very valuable lesson and that’s okay, today it was just what she needed.
by Stuart
Before having kids, a good morning was one where I would leisurely read the newspaper, watching the sun come up over the city skyline and mountains in the background, sipping a hot cup of coffee.
Now, a good morning is one during which I manage to get all three kids out the door without swearing.
by Stuart
So I woke up this Monday morning well rested and feeling great after a weekend of exercise and productive house projects. Until, of course, I discovered that the dog barfed on our bedroom rug, my wife had a killer migraine, and my son barfed on the way to school. Who knew bad days could be contagious?
by Stuart
At our house, come 5pm every night is Friday night; unfortunately, come 6am every morning is Monday morning.
by Stuart
Some people look at the clock and mumble:
What the..@%#$^%#, it’s 4:45 am. Why the hell am I awake?
I look at the clock and think:
I only have 2 hours and 15 minutes of quiet before my kids wake up