Mr. Mom

The past few days my wife has been out of town and it has been a good opportunity for me to reflect on how selfish I can be when she is home.  My daughters are both school age now so they can manage activities of daily living.  They could probably survive at home for quite a while (at least until we ran out of cereal).

There is still quite a lot of activity they do need support for.  Homework needs to be checked, they need to be coached during piano practice and a safe clean environment needs to be provided.

What has fallen off the plate the past few days is watching television and surfing the internet.  Typically, I have been averaging 1.5 to 2 hours per night.  Without the safety net of my wife, I have been going to bed earlier as insurance against oversleeping and setting off a nerve racking chain of events. 

Not being able to find socks, leads to being late coming down for breakfast, spilling milk on the counter, having to repack a lunch, looking for a lost school book, trying to find snacks, loading up the car late, getting caught in traffic, getting to school late, having to sign them in, getting to work late, missing a meeting, catching up on what I missed, working through lunch and generally being exhausted.

I still enjoy my hobbies, but I shouldn’t take them for granted and certainly shouldn’t feel that spare time is a right.  It is a privilege I have thanks to a supportive family and a good job.  That being said, we are all glad she will be home soon.