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I started out being a stay at home mom when my kids were in diapers. My husband was in the Navy and would leave for weeks and months at a time. I was, for the most part, a single parent. I got to see the first steps and hear the first words. My husband missed it all. He told me his dream was, when he retired, he wanted to become Mr. Mom. Think of the Michael Keaton movie. I said, “Okay, are you sure?” He said, “I think it would be great.”
Fast forward 15 years and he retires. I had started working in retail once the kids were all in school. I later took on a job that takes me away from home for 3 weeks at a time and home for 3 weeks—very similar to his old deployment schedule; I’m just not leaving for 6 months at a time.
He is now the one that cooks, (he had to teach me; I’m a bit domestically challenged), cleans, takes the kids to their extracurricular events. He makes the chicken noodle soup when they are sick (from scratch, I might add), and, since we have teenage daughters, he has to make sure they have their feminine supplies.
He’s very comfortable being a sexy stay-at-home dad. He loves it. We joke that I had the terrible two’s but he has the terrible teens. Sometimes, I think he got the short end of the stick. He has embraced the epitome of househusband. He cleans the house every Tuesday from top to bottom. He loves to cook and always has. He bakes, he plays his video games, he does the shopping. He picks up our two girls from school and helps with homework. If they are having problems with boys, he listens and gives advice.
Where is Mom in all of this? Working for 3 weeks at a time with 3 weeks off. I come home to a clean house and wonderful food. Our daughters will come and tell me about their adventures from when I was gone. I have a good enough job that hubby doesn’t have to be anything but a stay at home parent. Just as when he was in the military, we made it where I did not have to work unless I wanted to. It works for us.
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Photo credit: Pixabay