Monthly Archives: April 2005

…you can count on one hand the number of days they haven’t had a runny nose/cough/sneeze/wheeze in the past month.

Even though Maggie is only in daycare a couple days a week, it seems like she has been nothing but sick since she began. My RN brother-in-law says that’s a good thing as she is building up her immune system.

It may be a good thing, but it is still doesn’t make dealing with a sick kid anymore fun. And it looks like we can expect a few more, as the average kid has around 8 -10 colds before their 2nd birthday.

Fortuantly, there are only around 200 strains of the common cold and so far this year Maggie has managed to catch 196 of them. Four more to go and we are home free!

Is it normal for a 15 month old to bang their head against the wall when they seem happy? I know occasionally some parents may feel like doing it, but I had been a bit worried by Maggie’s tendancy to tap her forhead against the wall. She also likes to slap her head with her hands. Apparently, it’s okay. I was reading The Mother of All Toddler books by Ann Douglas last night and came across a note about head banging that said one in five toddlers will do it, either to relieve the pain of teething, relieve stress or when they are mad.

If you are reading this, chances are you may be an at-home Dad, like me. Welcome to the club. Let me tell you a bit about us. I am a Dad to one kid, Maggie. She is 15 months old and a hoot. I’m home with her 4 days a week – 2 with Mom and 2 with just Maggie and me. The other 3 days a week she goes to daycare and I go to my day job. So, I am not a fulltime stay at home Dad….just part time. We’ve been doing this for about 2 months now and so far we haven’t had a single trip to the hospital :).

Being at home with Maggie is a blast. One, however, that isn’t without challanges. Nothing major, but a couple things hang over my head. For one, I think she gets bored during the day, and I find I have a tough time keeping her stimulated and interested. As the weather gets nicer I am looking forward to spending more time outside with her. That is my biggest worry right now – how to keep her occupied and engaged. She is curious, as I suspect most toddlers are at this age, and wants to touch, smell, taste and experience everything. So, my biggest challange is finding things to keep her interested.

On the career front, I have just recently begun to feel a bit out of touch with what is going on in my workplace. I think this is a challenge for any career parent that goes from working full time, focused on their career – to working part time and changing their focus to raising a good person. I have to work hard at staying in touch with what is happening back at the office, and I find that a challenge.

Other than those 2 issues, my life is great – I’ve got a fantastic daughter, a great partner in my wife and am happy to be a Dad. Hope you are, too, and you’ll share some of your experiences and comments with your own adventures as a stay at home Dad! Cheers.