My hands and heart are full

Every weekly trip to the super market comes with at least one to three people commenting on how I have my hands full. Oddly when I make these trips with my wife the same people only give me glares because we are in the way, or the children are being too loud. So it seems when you are a stay at home dad, daycare provider, and pushing a buggy with five or six kids, sympathy is immediately attached. My hands are full, but more importantly my heart is full. This is my response to people who make remarks such as this indicating the large white elephant of the obvious. Sure it’s a busy job, but someone has to do the work. I could simply allow my three kids to be shared between school and daycare, if it were not such an expensive ordeal that might be the case. But fortunately for myself the numbers after adding them up a few times, pointed to the sense of me staying at home outweighed working more jobs and seeing less of the family. My lovely bride and I have had the blessing of new life given to us three times. First with Avery six years ago, and then a double dip of fun with our twins two years ago. Kenneth and Erin came out after several months of extreme misery for my darling, but they are here and all of that seems like a distant memory now. Calling around shortly after they were born to see how much daycare costs would be for all of them, gave me a quick realization I might have a new task ahead of me. So November 2010 I threw away my work boots and grabbed some car seats, never looking back. I decided to start my home daycare to generate some extra income and give the kids some playmates during the day. So since January of this year I have been not only in charge of my own, but also blessed with the opportunity to daily minister to a few other kids. So my hands are full, my heart is even more so. With the holiday’s coming I am certain there will be much to be done, and a lot of fun to be had.