Boys will be Boys

My son, the future mountain climber, doesn't stop climbing all day.  He climbs on tables, chairs, couchs, and just started to use the lip of the oven drawer  to stand on so he can reach the stove top.  The most frustrating thing about his new found talent is the fact that he will not stop no matter what I do.  When I catch him in the act he just smiles and laughs. It has gotten to the point where our dining room furniture has to be lied on its side so he cannot get on the table.  When he gets on a table, the next step is standing up.  Now I understand the thrill of climbing and the feeling of begin on top of the world, but his 'no fear' attitude will have us taking a field trip to the hospital.

   A few weeks ago we had to make a dentist appointment for my son, because he decided he want out of the bath tub.  So leg goes up and over the side of the tub and in the blink of an eye he slides head first on to the floor.  Now lets just say my son has earned his membership into the chip tooth club.

   I am very proud to say that it looks like he will follow in his fathers foot steps.  As a young boy, I knocked out both of my front teeth.  Not by climbing but by being a mischiefous little boy.  One I knocked out by jumping off my mom and dads bed, trying to fly like Superman. The other I was trying to run under the table, and lets just say I was to tall and SMACK, bye bye tooth.

Vocabulary of a Child

For this post, I want to let you into the mind of my child and the vocabulary that she creates on a daily basis. Here are a few words that she has brought to my attention:

The other day while my wife and I were laying in bed and my daughter comes into our room and asks me to 'scoop' over.  Now I don't know exactly how to scoop over but she just keep asking me, 'scoop' over dad.

Then yesterday we had take-out, and with her meal I had gotten her 'root beer'.  So as we are sitting and eating, she takes a drink, and says, "Mmmmm I love Fruit Beer".  No I don't know about you but since when did places start offering 'fruit beer'.  To me that doesn't sound to delicious.

Inside the Mind of a Stay-at-home Dad

Now, I don't know how all the other stay at home dads feel, but the lifestyle change that has occurred in my life has provided me many new perspectives on life.  Prior to this change, if you told me that I would be taking care of my children full time I would probably laugh.  To think that I would have to provide for my family in this way never would have crossed my mind.  But now that I am living that life, it has changed me in ways beyond imagination.

   I have grown with my children over the past few months both in ways both good and bad.  The day to day challenges that have occurred make you think and ponder the way that we all grow as humans.  But along with the day to day challenges that my children provide me there is also the mental component of living this lifestyle.

   I think that the hardest mental challenge that I have still not over come is the realization that I am no longer providing for my family financial.  This in my mind is the fact that the society we live in has grown to have the persona that the dad/man is the bread winner of a family.  We can all see that the women in are lives can also be the financial provider as the working world has evolved over the last hundred years.  Mentally this has been my major struggle and its not that I believe that the men in the world have to fulfill this role which has been established in our society  as the norm.  I am very proud and jealous that my wife has the opportunity to be in her dream job that she loves doing every single day.   Prior to staying home with my children, I would do whatever job I had to, whether I enjoyed it or, hated it with a passion.  As long as, my family was taken care of was and is all that matters.  But, the internal urge to perform this role still effects me mentally to this day.  It is something that I have to try to ignore, and focus on providing for my family in a different way.

    Now, that I have experienced the life of the say at home parent, I have come to realize that not only can it be frustrating and mentally challenging, but that bond that I have got to form with my children is priceless.  To have to opportunity to see my children grow in ways that were never possible before being home, is the most rewarding experience I have had in my life.  I love that everyday I get to spend this amount of time with children and would not change it for the world.

  I do recommend to all other working dads that if the opportunity arises that you seize it and expand the relationship with your children in ways that you would never know possible.

   Please if there are any questions you have on the internal workings of the mind of a stay-at-home dad, ask.  I will provide you with the best answer to the internal thoughts that make up who I have becomes since my lifestyle change.  Thank you for reading, and enjoy.

Introduction

    Will I would like to say thank you for visiting my blog and I hope my experiences as a stay-at-home dad are both intriguing and informative.  Blogging is a new world that was introduced to me through an online course that I am currently taking at Lakehead University.  My wife also suggested I start blogging about my daily adventures.  So here we go.

   My name is Joel Jacob and I have two children.  My daughter Paxton and son Isaiah. Each make my day both interesting and challenging.  That is what got me interested in sharing my life as it provides a persective into the all the fun, excitement, and frustration that can occur in a household.  

  My life as a stay-at-home dad started in the summer of 2010 when my wife got offered her dream job that she has persuded since her graduation.  With this offer, the decision for me to continue the duration of her leave was confirmed and the life of a stay-at-home dad began.

  It was a big change in my life as prior, I was working full time days and had got to spend very little time with my children as I would leave for work before they woke up and was home just before dinner.  So the time I got to spend with my children was limited during the work week.  This change was not only exciting, but scary and intimadating. I love my kids and enjoy every minute I get to spend with them, but to have to run a household was alot different then I was use too.  This challenge was the first of many that I had to over come.  Along with this, my son was developing into the little monster that I currently have today.  He was and still getting into anything and everything. My daughter is a great help with her little brother and she has the most creative and comedic personality.

   So over the past few months we have bonded in a way that a father should be able to bond with there children.  And it has changed my life in ways that I cannot described.  I will do my best to reliterate the past few months to try and provide a persective of what it is like to be a stay-at-home dad.

   I hope you enjoy my posts and please any comments and questions are encouraged as I am always learning and I would love to help other dads  in the same position.  Its a new era, and we all have to come together to teach, learn and grow.