End of the day

I love being a stay-at-home dad, but there are a couple of things I envy about you working dads…

Most obviously, you guys are lucky to have the adult interaction every day, even if it is work-related conversations.  Sometimes I just end up talking to myself so I can stay in practice.

The thing I most envy, however, is your “end of the day quality time”.... Not to say that I don’t have quality time with my kids.  I do… Tons of it.  But it sometimes tends to get lost in the chaos of a long day.

Working dads get to have a concentrated quality time in the evening.  For you, the joy of seeing your children gives you a huge boost to overcome work-related exhaustion.  You get that second wind, happy to be away from the workplace and back with your family.  And you give your focus to your kids for a few hours, not minding that they are dragging out the bedtime rituals just so they can spend a little more time with you.

It’s a little different as a stay-at-home dad.  I don’t get a second wind.  And as bedtime rolls around I’ve had my kids pretty much in my face for twelve solid hours.  It’s even more extreme because I homeschool my son.  So, by 8 o’clock my attititude is sort of “I’ve had enough” while the working dad’s is “I can’t get enough.”

I have to practice a lot of patience with my young son and daughter at bedtime.  They don’t understand that I’m tired of wiping noses and reading stories.  They don’t spend the whole day focused on me, so they don’t really need a break from daddy.  Even though it’s bedtime, their little brains are still thinking up curious questions to ask me, like “What’s the wildest country on Earth?”

Which reminds me, I need to Google that so I can give my son an answer in the morning.  It all starts back up at 8am.