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.