It’s been a while since I posted a blog onto this site. I’ve just kind of been pre-occupied by other things. There have been a multitude of changes in the past 2 months… changes my wife and I didn’t expect to happen, but are happy that they have. Jennie, my wife, has been working towards earning her master’s degree in library science for the past year. It is an online nationally accredited program that takes about two years to complete. While she began this venture, I was still in the midst of working a crap job in the printing industry and, to be quite honest, very deflated and unoptimistic for what the future may hold for me. Then in the blink of an eye Jennie is offered a full time librarian position while still earning her degree! Huge opportunity; surely one to not be passed up. So we say, “let’s do it” and I, gladly, put in my notice at my job… and they nearly fire me when I do (wonderful way to almost end a 2 and a half year relationship). I don’t care because I have given them too much and they haven’t given me anything. So… are roles are then reversed. She is now the full time worker, and I am the one staying home with the kids. I don’t think that anyone can imagine what it is like to stay at home with a 3 year old and a 1 year old every day until they actually do it. I didn’t understand it at first, until about a month in I would ask my wife questions like, “how the hell did you do it for so long” and “did you ever feel like throwing them across the room”? She laughs because she has thought it too. It is a VERY trying job… more trying then anything I have ever experienced. I have a newly formed respect for my wife and for all stay at home parents. Its not easy… not in the least. And in some ways… it’s not fair. Our jobs- or careers as some might call it- reaps the least amount of rewards for the most amount of work. Other parents in these same shoes joke and say, “I’m just trying to make it to the end of the day without killing anyone”. I get that now… I know where these people are coming from. It’s not all bad, of course. There are days when my cheeks hurt so much from all the laughing that I’ve done. It’s just that when we have bad days, they’re VERY bad. We need more recognition for all the hard work that we do. There was a study done somewhere and they calculated a stay-at-home parent’s salary based off all the skills and work methods utilized on a yearly basis by these people. Over $120,000 a year…whoa. And you know what, I believe it. I would love to have even 10% of that. Please respond with thoughts and comments. If you liked this blog, pass it on please!

Whoa.. what a day. I took the little ones out and it was getting close to Lily’s nap time so I thought that I would continue to drive and see if she would doze off in the car. In the car or at home, a nap is a nap. So we drove. I put on a CD that was just ocean waves to see if that would help. It didn’t. We drove for an hour with the sounds of the coast playing softly on the speakers and she was constantly asking me when we were going to get home. After an hour of this venture, we got home and I laid her in bed. She cried, she screamed and she was pissed. However I stuck to my guns and never lost my cool. Eventually she fell asleep and was out for 2 hours.

I’m not sure if it is something that will last, but like I said: a nap is a nap. This might get her into the habit of taking one at the same time every day. I’ll use this instance as a reminder of what a good girl she was to take one and how wonderful she felt afterwards. Sure, I had to be a hard-ass to get her to finally take a nap. I had to take away toys and I had to be firm, never once losing my temper. These are the brakes when you are trying to raise a kid right.