Stay-at-home dad. Day 3.
Before my daughter Kenzie was born, I imagined what life would be like when my wife went back to grad school, and I was a full-time, stay-at-home dad.
I heard about “babywearing”, where you put your child in a carrier and wear her all day long.
I tried that a couple times when she was an infant. I recorded “Silent Night” last Christmas while “wearing” her. It worked remarkably well to sooth her. Overall, it was difficult to do worth with a baby attached to my chest. With my wife at home, there wasn't much need. So I stopped.
Kenzie is walking now, as long as I hold her hand. My other misconception was that I could sit her down to play while I typed away, promoting indie Celtic music like I always do.
It's day 3 and no, that's not working either. She's still asleep. I tried a couple times yesterday to leave her to play. She wants me to play with her. If I refuse, she gets fussy.
She will sit or crawl around a room if I have a few mobile chores. But as soon as I sit still to try and focus on something, she b-lines straight for me and starts yanking on my leg hair to pull herself to standing position. It just doesn't work.
What are your stay-at-home dad or stay-at-home mom misconceptions? Let me know.
Time to go back to Kenzie. She's awake. Time to entertain her.
Forget about pre conceptions. We have raised 5 kids and working on the 5th grandkid. We raised 2 of them and working on the 3rd. Guess what? They are all different. What we thought would hold true because this one did it, didn’t work on the next one. Kinda keeps you guessing. The only constant is that they are all beautiful and know they are loved. BTW, Kenzie is beautiful! You two did good.
Danny
Couldn’t agree more, Danny! While one will need constant attention, the other will play for hours on the floor and be happy with an occasional smile and a little attention. But you’ll never look back and regret taking the time to form that bond when all is said and done. That moment of opportunity passes so quickly, and they are lucky who think to make the most of it.
Like Danny pointed out, they’re all different and the first one definitely blows away all preconceptions about fatherhood, parenting, and everything that entails. My one nugget of advice would be to find a baby swing or bouncy seat/saucer with a lot of toys on it. If she likes spending time in it, you’ll likely get maybe a full 30-45 minutes of focussed playtime that doesn’t involve sacrificing leg hair.
You aren’t going to get anything done. Not while she’s awake, and not until she’s about 5 years older.
If you’re lucky.