Wednesday, September 29, 2004

All this work, just for you...

Believe it. I have killed most of my day today making this site as pretty as I can make it and adding other stuff to do when you are bored with me. But it was worth it, because don't believe it for a second that I did all this just for you. I am just an anal perfectionist with a little too much time on my hands today. That will all change next week.

I have been a stay home dad for the last 3 years with soccer to keep me sane and the blessing of my lovely wife, Becky. Re-entering the productive workforce feels weird. Oh, poor Sean. He has to go to work now. No, I don't. I want to. For the first time in my life, I want to go to work. I want to go and teach the sport that has been so good to me and share that with other coaches, parents and players. And I also want to go to the farm and chase chickens, maintain horses and share the farm with our visitors. The frosting on this cake is my beautiful wife of ten years and my two boys I get to share this all with. Not a bad place to be. Not at all.

Am I still a stay-at-home dad? Yes, I get to keep that luxury. Do I still get to sit at home during bad weather and play PS2 once in a while? Yes. Yes, I do. It keeps getting better and better. My youngest and I get a lot done around the house and we go out running errands. Was it always like this. No, it wasn't.

The first 6 months of staying home with with a 4 year old and a 1 year old for me was REALLY hard. In order to pull it off, we had to reduce to one vehicle and my wife needed it to get to work everyday and some Saturdays. Even in the middle of Kansas City, you get tired of going to the park EVERY SINGLE nice day we had. Most guys might think that sitting at home and playing PS2 all day would be THE LIFE. Let me tell you now, you get done with it pretty quick. Money is tight, so new games are far and few between. You can only play so many years in your franchise mode of NCAA before you start seizing in the middle of night and complaining of thumb cramps. The worst injury I ever sustained was searing all of my fingertips off from accidentally placing my hand on a hot manifold of a lawnmower. OUCHEE! Bored, injured, in pain and grounded to the homestead. I'd hit ROCK bottom.

The step down was hard for me. Or should I say, step ASIDE. Some other men might have been able to do it with more grace than I did. But I was a whiner. It was made easier for me by doing one major change. Swallowing your pride. I had to suck it up and be a man. My wife beat me at the career game and for good reason. She keeps her mouth shut at work. I learned to do that over time. Lots of time. But not when I was young. I thought everyone wanted to know how to do everything better and more efficiently in the corporate world. I was wrong, and it earned me more pink slips than I care to count. Oh well. I was young and retarded. I got the hint. So we moved from Colorado to Kansas City for my wife's career and the betterment of our situation. It worked out in the end, but I had my doubts in the beginning. My marriage became stronger, my boys received some much needed fatherly parenting, and my own idea of a career eventually landed in my lap by freak accident. Funny how it all works out...

1 comment:

Derek Knight said...

Still, you were the best insurance agent I ever had.