Week 4

Looks like another busy one but we are getting into a bit of a routine.

Riley had skating today and although we worked on wearing the skates at home he's still a bit shaky out there. He's got his buddy from the playground with him now so I hope they help each other. Needless to say there were too stay at home Dads on the ice with there boys helping out for little while. I also learned a good trick today and that is to keep change in the equipment bags for incentive and motivation. There are about 10 different candy machines at the arena! Hope that helps next week.

Both the boys are in swimming lessons and doing well, I still can't believe that Riley has finally taken to the water. Although he passed Preschool 1 there was no room in Preschool 2 so he is doing it over again, I think he likes knowing what to do and showing the other little tadpoles.

I'm trying to keep up on being creative for craft time as Riley loves it. The first couple of weeks we made a ton of bugs out of egg cartons and now we have resurrected a robot project we started months ago. I'll post some pics soon.

Timbits Hockey has started and Aidan is super excited. Man it sure is fun to be out there and see all these little ones dressed like mini NHL'ers. Aidan is loving it so far and told me this morning that he wants to be a hockey player and animal explorer\inventor when he grows up. Will see how that turns out eh! He's doing well and having fun and I'm going to enjoy being an assistant coach and out there on the ice with them.

I didn't want to turn this blog into one of those "complaining" type blogs but I guess from time to time I'm going to have to speak my mind.
I can't figure out why someone would buy their kid a $100 composite hockey stick at this level. Do they think it's going to greatly improve their game? I mean save your money and donate some to the needy kid equipment fund....OK I'm done.

Road trip to the zoo and China town
Riley and I decided to head to the zoo for the second time in 4 weeks. It really is nice to have a pass and not feel like you need to stay all day, I recommend it to all parents. We then took the train, which he thought was a hoot into downtown Calgary. Although apparently according to Riley the first two stops don't qualify as "Downtown" but the third does? It was neat to walk around at his pace as I'm used to running from place to place and dodging lights, it really is nice to slow it down. I suspected Riley would not be into the Vietnamese soup and packed a lunch for him but I was very impressed on how well he behaved, I think he really enjoyed being out and seeing so many new things and meeting different people. We had lunch with some of my old team then made a quick visit to the office although he thought the elevator was cool he had enough visiting and we headed out pretty quick. I was nice to see some of the team again but I totally felt like diving in and helping out.....

Week 3

Now were cooking with grease! Things were definitely busier this week.

Aidan is in full swing at school and I had to step in for Grandparents day as ours are in another province. It went well as Jessica made little write ups of his grandparents and Aidan spoke to the class about his fishing adventures with Oma and Opa and showed the class his mini canoes and wood carvings made by his Pepere.

We also went to the Optometrist and had both the boys get their eyes checked. Aidan now has a pair of glasses and looks very handsome. He thinks there cool because they're called tarantulas. The best part was when the Doc asked if Aidan could see the letters and he responded " I can see the A and the E but can't see the P and the F ". We had a great chuckle, he must have memorised the previous letters! Riley also tried to give Aidan an kiss while he was getting his glasses adjusted and Aidan pulled away and said "Awkward". Riley then looked at the lady and said Aidan doesn't like mushy kisses anymore and gave him one anyway! When we returned to pickup the glasses there was a note in his file that said " Aidan doesn't like mushy kisses from his brother " apparently the team was having a good laugh. Nice to see my boys can put a smile on other peoples faces too.

Riley started skating and although he had fun I think it's going to take a lot of motivation to get him up and going. He likes the superman part where you get to lie on your belly!

Preschool also started this week for Riley. I got to tell you that It felt weird dropping him off again. We had been spending everyday for the past two weeks together and I didn't realize how much I was enjoying hanging out with him, the emotion took me by surprise. The three hours of quiet time was sure nice though and I was able to get some of Jessica's to do list done!

Soccer was also back on for Aidan and I for two more weeks. I coached his U6 team this year and although it was busy, watching the kids have fun was a blast.

I'm meeting a few more parents as I drop Aidan off to school and hang around the playground. Riley has met a little buddy who's sister is in Aidan's class. There are some really great families in the area. Were still learning to slow things down but I'm getting better, if Riley wants to stay and play at the park for an hour or two and we've got nothing really going on then we do...

Purple eggs and pine cones explained

Some people already know the story but others have been asking so I thought I should post it.

One day I was working from home and under a wee bit of stress. Riley was sick that day so I kept him home from daycare so he could rest up and get better. I was in my office face buried in the monitor and Riley came into the room with the biggest smile on his snotty little face and shouted "Papa Papa look what I found, it's a purple egg and a pine cone!" Well you would've thought that he just found a pot of gold or solved the worlds greatest mystery with his excitement and I just sat back and smiled. As the stress melted away I realized that happiness can be found in the simplest of things. Chalk that up under the "kids can teach you a few things" column.

Week 2

I’m having a great time and really realize that I needed to do this for the boys but also for myself. I am enjoying the time to unwinde.
I met another Dad at home today and man did he look relaxed! He’s been doing this for three years now and loves it. I will probably touch base with him a bit more often and get some tips and tricks.
Likes:
- Not having to get up and rush out the door at 7am
- Early morning snuggles with the boys
- More time to play and teach the kids
- The opportunity to be more active in Aidan’s schooling
- Watching Riley conquer his water fear and pass Preschool 1
- Getting to be more physically active (biking, chasing, weights)
- Whipping up some edible meals….Could use improvement
Dislikes:
- Man this is a lot of work. Just the cooking and cleaning keeps you busy let alone the planning and playing
- My cooking can use some work…need to work out a better system
- Still adjusting to the “Dad at home title” it’s growing on me though

Week 1

Well the first week was a bit weird. It kind of felt like it was a long weekend, almost like it was a vacation at home and not permanent. Trust me it was no vacation and I remember thinking that this was busier than staying at work!

Riley was still a bit unsure that this was permanent too and kept asking "is it stay home day Papa?"

I was still thinking about work and wondering how the team was doing but held off contacting anyone.

I have to admit I was a bit anal (those that know me will not be shocked) and broke every day into 1hour time slots, oh yes I'm a professional planner! Here's an example of a day for your amusement....

7-8 Breakfast
8-830 Aidan to school
830-930 Excer Activity
930-10 Snack time
10-11 Game time
11-12 Swimming Lessons
12-1230 Lunch
1230-1245 Story
1-230 Nap time...(if I'm lucky)
230-330 Preschool work - Shapes, colors, letters, numbers
330-400 Pick up Aidan
.........You get the picture

Needles to say the important pieces got done and I'm quickly learning that kids have their own schedule and I need to chill and adjust :)

Coming out - No Jill not that kind!

Now I do not want to trivialize homosexuality and what it must mean to “come out” but it felt like I was doing something against the social norm and I don't quite know what to expect when telling people.

I found I would typically get three different responses
1) That’s amazing, good for you for taking time and focusing on the kids while there young.
2) Ah, what….wow…ya…I guess that’s good
3) Well, if you can afford it….so are you doing this full time or still going to be doing something?

I can't really predict how people will react as some I assumed would be totally the number one response and turned out to be a number 2.

I have had a few great conversations with some guys with older kids who wish they could have spent more time or quality time with their kids when they were younger. I believe they are sincere and it helps in my decision.

The Decision

Jess and I were both busy in careers and finding ourselves in the pickup and drop the kids mode more often than not. Although the financial benefit of two incomes was great I felt that there was something missing and that we should be doing more for our boys. I got to tell you that it felt like I didn't know my own kids after awhile and it killed me to rush them out the door and drop them off at daycare. We decided that we needed a change, one for the kids and two for our own sanity.

We talked about getting a Nanny, finding a day home, moving grandparents and part time schedules for a number of months and then we decided that if one of us could stay home that would be best for the family.

So why me? Well for a number of reasons.
1) although I loved my team and the BU, I had been working for my company for just short 7 yrs and felt that now was a good time for a change.
2) Jess makes more money . Yippy!
3) I love my boys and love a challenge
4) Over the past few years I have neglected to focus on myself and training and thought I would take the opportunity to assess what I want to be when I grow up!
5) I love my boys!