RebelDad

5 Responses to “What At-Home Parents Do All Day”

1. 

   Working Dad
   

   24. May, 2007

   Man, that is the best answer ever. Thanks for posting the column.

2. Dave Crowell
   

   25. May, 2007

   I like that.. I added a comment to it which I’ll paste here….

   Wait.. that was a good day.. what about Blowouts (diapers that leak foul, liquid poop).. teaching to eat.. flung spoons full of yogurt.. dealing with a child peeing on the chair in the food court.. stopping the kid from kicking the airline seat.. the sippy cups that shouldn’t leak but do.. and the screaming 2-year-old that can’t verbalize the the sippy cup isn’t giving up any of its contents.. It’s stopping the older kid from kicking the younger one… and vice versa.. It’s keeping the fish tank from being hit with anything that can be picked up and thrown..

   It’s all these things and more.. and there is no agenda to tell you what to expect next. Everything you figured out today can be different tomorrow.. or if you expect it to be different it won’t be.

   … now take all that.. and double it… and tack on constantly cutting up food into non-choking bits.. then you’re getting close.

   Now tack on stopping the kid from eating too much dirt, sand, rocks, plastic, carpet, wood, asphalt, magazine, electrical cord, poop, other kid’s fingers or toes or arms…

   Then add teaching a kid to share (which I’m pretty sure Tacoma probably isn’t that good at.. Tacoma.. can I borrow your computer for a minute?)..

   After all that.. it’s a wonder we can still have energy to respond to this type of moronic question.. I’d love to suggest Tacoma take care of some kids.. but what kind of a parent would do that to their kids??

   Which reminds me.. add worrying that you can’t see your kid at the park even though you know he’s just behind the slide.. and worrying that the slide has be booby-trapped with nails or has simply not been maintained.. or that the nice gentleman with the dog is actually a child-molester.. or his dog bites… and to have all these worries without letting the kid pick up on any of them.. to worry gracefully.. to still teach the kid to be open and friendly in a closed and unkind world. .. to teach them to love even those that think they chose their job just to be lazy..

   Now take all that.. and double it again and you’re getting closer.

   And for the record.. I’m a stay-at-home Dad.

   Dave

3. MileHiDad
   

   25. May, 2007

   Well said, in addition to all that the At Home Dad Dave said, how about adding toddler warfare in general? This could come from a verbal assault to hitting and throwing things, then the teaching of why you just do not do that. Then there is the nonstop picking up of the Hot Wheels, Lego, Barbie apparel and Lincoln Logs to name a few as I pick things up it seems like my mini me is right behind me putting the stuff back into a mess. Then the Yogurt is dumped or his open box of Crunch Berries succumbs to the temptations of gravity.

   Being an At Home Dad is the hardest job you will ever love!

   -Mike
   http://www.milehidad.com

4. Dave Crowell
   

   26. May, 2007

   Oh.. and I forgot language.. take the whole job and add the fact that you will have to learn a new language… a language that can morph daily. A language that no books exist for.

   And I didn’t add that the very ones which you are caring for will say NO and resist you if you demand anything of them. However, if you can feign apathy at the threat of water being poured into your stereo system you may keep said stereo system alive.

   which reminds me.. Love and Logic is a pretty cool thing (loveandlogic.com).. though I wouldn’t spend money on it (they give you all you need to know).. but I do use it.

   But what we do daily.. I wouldn’t trade for anything.. except maybe to be the US President.. but the US isn’t ready to elect a homemaker. They should.. but never would.

5. Greg Barbera
   

   26. May, 2007

   Amen sister!