Questions for a stay at home dad

Recently found these questions online, thought i would post my own answers: Question: What do you feel is the major difference between stay at home moms and stay at home dads, if any? Dads approach everything with children in a different way than moms. We may not always pay at much attention to the details, those picked up so quickly by motherly nature. Socks may be missing or barley the same color. Hair may not always be straight and combed. A little dirt is hardly noticeable, and a playtime will yield to all sorts of craziness. Kids will act as kids. The hard part is separating the kid from the dad. It is a constant learning experience as you face your own childishness. Question: Are you planning on continuing to be a stay at home dad or are you planning on going back to work? My goal is to return to working full time once again when my own kids get old enough to enter a preschool type program. Our oldest daughter was three when we took her out of daycare while my wife was pregnant with the twins. We could not afford daycare with Holly on bed rest. Family helped out a great deal during the spring and summer until Holly was able to go back to work. Daycare expenses were too high for all three kids, so we made the decision I would stay at home with the kids for a time until they were old enough for school. Question: If the chance arose would you happily be a stay at home dad again? Not that I am going to welcome the adventure of having more kids, but I would do the stay at home dad thing all over again if I could. There is nothing quite like the adventures of watching little ones learn and grow. Its more than a full time job, watching kids requires every ounce of strength the Lord God will give. Question: How has being a stay at home dad affected how you feel about stay at home parents? Super heroes have nothing on stay at home parents. You can have all the extreme powers you want, but it takes serious skill to be able to manage small children. Grow eyes in the back of your head, multi-task several things at once, keep the kid happy and healthy at all times without losing your sanity. Before I became a stay at home parent, I probably could of guessed a little bit on how busy you constantly are, but this experience has proven to give me a profound respect for anyone who makes their daily career out of watching kids. Question: What is the best part of being at stay at home dad? Dads sometimes have the tendency to worry, just like moms do. We see any potential care giver or child as a possible threat to our own child’s well-being. Maybe it’s a cynical way to look at it, but we are fathers and as fathers we are protectors. Courageously we watch our little ones like a mighty lion, guarding them from the world and helping to prepare them for life. Being a stay at home dad enables us all the more to be sure of their safety and happiness. Question: What is the worst part of being a stay at home dad? Mostly you see moms being the stay at home parents, and those seems to be the only groups arranging play dates and enjoying brunch. It is easy for a dad to feel separated from the rest of the adult world and lonely. You find yourself taking trips to the shopping market just so you can chat with someone taller than four feet. Family and friends don’t really come around and hang out to keep company or help. Obviously the majority of everyone else you know is working full time so it’s easy to begin to feel like you should be doing something else. But I remind myself God has a purpose for every little life, to use for His Kingdom. So now is the time for me to be where I am in this season. Question: What do you think is the biggest misconception about stay at home dads? Most people probably think I have given over to the joys of staying at home all day and wouldn’t want to go back to working full time. Dads have to make a choice to stay at home or find care for their kids another way. It was my personal choice based on a joint decision my wife and I made in order to take care of our kids. Question: What is one thing that your wife could handle but you struggle with? Holly is far more detail organized and capable of getting everything looking ready for the day ahead. Where I am bound to mismatch clothes and neglect brushing hair, she always has that taken care of complete with pony tails. She is also better at balancing the daily chores of keeping the house clean while maintain happy children all around. Question: If you had to give new or potential stay at home dads one piece of advice what would it be? In everything that must be done, find some element of fun. With every chore and every task, take them all one at a time and proceed with a positive attitude. There is nothing more challenging then your own kids, but remember they are going to teach you as much as you teach them, possibly even more. Just be ready to learn from them, understand their needs and desires. Find common ground so you can all survive each day. Question: What do you think is the biggest mistake new stay at home dads make? Depending on his own strength to make it and not seeking help. You cannot be a real life super hero with your own set of powers to keep the children in line, the chores done, and life running smoothly. Every leader needs a team, just like every hero needs a side kick, so don’t forget to ask. Do not be afraid of asking for help occasionally. Question: Earlier we talked about misconceptions about stay at home dads, is there anything you think is true of stay at home dads? Stay at home dads want to be respected in society as much as stay at home moms. We want people to value our place and decision to stay at home with the kids and take care of them. Sometimes circumstances yield to the husband making less income, when the kids come along and it makes sense to stay at home. Accept it and enjoy it. Men deserve and warrant respect for giving themselves over to the daily duties of being a house husband and stay at home father. Question: Everyone has secrets, would you let us in on one that stay at home dads have? We know how much more work it really is for moms to be moms and take care of all of their work as well. The more you allow love to overflow what you do, the less it becomes a chore and the more it is an excitement. Question: What is the biggest lesson you have learned while being a stay at home dad? There is no substitute for mom! She is even more valuable and treasured in her ability to take over all the responsibilities you take on during the day and make the transition look flawless.

Doodle Bug's

Over the past five months of the year we have kept as busy as possible. With the warmer weather coming in, it made it a lot easier to get outside and play with the kids. Day in and day out its been nothing but playing with the kids, running errands, keeping the house clean, and working 20+ hours a week part time at Lowe's. Really tiring but all worth it since it keeps the kids from being in public daycare and allows them all the more time with their parents. As a stay at home dad going on 20 months now, i have learned a great deal about my children and myself. Every day is a new learning experience and i continue to grow more. They amaze me with how much energy they contain, how much room for love, and how cranky as well children can be. But we all are, and they are just tiny humans who are new to the world and its our job to help teach them and guide them every step of the way. I can concentrate on going back to school this winter for a teaching degree. Big news is Erin is walking a lot more, or taking a lot more steps at a time. For a while we have really been concerned she wouldn't, but shes making it work. Tuesday she did a lot of steps at once around the living room, of course she still crawls mostly but least shes working on it. Kenneth is all boy as usual, making the most of being as wild as possible, but still a momma's boy when he feels like it. Avery graduated Preschool and is enjoying the summer vacation with daddy and the kids. Im sure she would like to do a lot more than we have been able to, but maybe when we have the weekends back we can compensate for more family fun times. The kids all keeps our lives full and busy but fun! So thankful for my darlings!