Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Stay at Home Complacency

(GUEST BLOGGER)

On November 19, 2007 me and my wife's lives were changed forever as our first child was born. The nights of going out on the spur of the moment ended, multiple vacations in a year ended, days of excessive spending ended, and thus began a new life. This life was marked in part by our ability to attend to all things with Pentagon-like detail to ensure our child's daily safety.

Since my wife began staying at home with our child, I have noticed she has traded in her credentials at the Pentagon for a more relaxed from of oversight...perhaps more comparable to the folks overseeing the Federal Reserve. I'm sure some explanation is needed, so allow me to expand.

Just this week our child has obtained a large bruise/knot on his forehead that was sustained by as she put it "falling into the door". But later when asked again the story changed to "I'm not sure?" It happens. Later in the week my wife informed me while eating some puffs, she accidentally fed Cooper a full sized hot tamale. Mind you she was sitting right next to him and handing him the treats one-at-a-time. This was followed by him attempting to eat a piece of spearmint gum. Once again, sitting nearly 4-inches from him as he attempts to inhale it. No worries...it was wrapped.

The stories go on-and-on, but the point of this exercise is to test the waters. Do stay at home parents loose their vigilance over time? I'm pretty sure my wife hasn't changed her clothes in nearly two weeks except for church on Sundays, so it must progress further than just monitoring a 13-month old child, who although fast at crawling, would still never manage to move from point A to point B without stopping to chase his own shadow.
Please let me know your thoughts. I love my stay at home wife, but her chances at working for President-Elect Obama's Secret Service Staff are rapidly declining.

Steve

3 comments:

Lisa said...

Are you kidding? I am not sure if your story is funny or you being fairly insensitive to your wife. Being a stay at home parent is the hardest job that anyone will ever do in their lives. Your wife gives & gives & I am sure that she does not receive nearly as much as she gives. A stay at home parent has no manual for operational success, no lunch break, bathroom break, no afternoon conference calls with adults. There are times that there are no grown ups to talk to & you havent changed your clothes in days (as you already know ) Have you asked what you can do to help at home? Now how about not asking what you can do & just automatically do things that need to be done. Please tell your wife that you are a blessed man to be able to have someone like her that is wanting to raise your children. There are a tons of parents that dont have a parent to stay at home with the children that they brought into the world. Just because your wife is a stay at home parent does not mean she sits on her fanny & eats bon bons all day!!! Hug your wife & hold your baby!!!

ginmommy said...

Oh my dearest Steve,

Since I know you, I know that you are being funny!! I'll keep it real and admit that there are times when us stay at home moms "zone out" and our kids might eat a hot tomale or two, but sometimes our brains go numb!! Staying home is hard and I know Jami is doing a GREAT JOB..... You my friend are a NUT ;)

Tracey said...

Dear Guest Blogger,

You, my friend, made me laugh! I am quite sure that Jami is protective enough of little Cooper and you don't need to worry that she is losing it! LOL!! I have never read where a hot tomale killed anyone, so when it does, let me know and I'll send another comment out to you! Jami is a great mom/wife and Steve, you are a great dad/hubby! ;)