The Temporary Mr. Mom

It has been an interesting two weeks since baby #3 has been born to say the least. My husband has become a temporary stay at home dad and I have been fortunate to watch (from a heavily narcotic induced state) from afar as he has transformed from a distant, uninvolved working dad to an full blown, diaper changing, snot clearing, breakfast-making stay at home dad.

Before his “vacation” began he talked about all the things he wanted to do; baseball games, errands, parks and loads of fun. He was excited to have 3 weeks “off” from work. <–Take notice of the words in quotations.

The first couple of days there was a lot of yelling. A LOT. I was tempted to send him back to work early because I couldn’t handle his constant yelling and his horrible short temper. It was hell. Thanks to the norco, I could tune him out easily but I felt sorry for the kids.
He got in the routine of taking the kids to the park. Like, everyday. I was bored for them and I was just drugged on the couch.
My husband started doing dad fix-it things around the house. Nailing the fence, cleaning the pool filters, weeding, chopping trees etc. Then apparently he ran out of things to do. And…
After a week of the boring stay at home parent monotonous routine I watched my husband fall into a depression. He did, I’m not kidding. After just a single week. Unfortunately for him, I found it funny. He stopped shaving his face and brushing his teeth. He shuffled around the house in the same clothes and exclaimed that he couldn’t take the kids anywhere “because they didn’t know how to behave”.
I silently laughed.
I forced him to go out with the kids one day. I couldn’t take it anymore. He was cramping my foggy sleep deprived state with his daddy postpartum gloominess. I suggested a lunch date and a trip to the cheap zoo (you know Petco). 

That did the trick.

He found the confidence to take the kids out and even have a good time doing it too. He is now able to manage multitasking (yes! a man CAN multitask!) and he seems happy to do it.

Just today I witnessed a definite sign of stay at home dad contentment. He clipped my son’s fingernails this afternoon. For the first time. Ever.

I’m so happy that he is able to take this time off of work to be home with us while I re cooperate (ok! i’ll be honest…i’ve been fully recovered from the surgery since last weekend but I’m milking it for all it’s worth!). I know that he has learned a valuable lesson…This stay at home business is harder than it looks.