Back to the Grind, A New Reality

My wife just went back to work. We had been together for the previous thirteen weeks. Twelve of those were, of course, her maternity leave, the previous one week was her finally not being able to go into the office. With a baby growing inside, with her back hurting, with her feet swollen, she went to work for several weeks. She has a tremendous work ethic and is among the most driven people I have ever met.

The twelve weeks she was on maternity leave included six weeks recovering from her c-section and six weeks catching up on all of the physical activity she'd missed. Twelve weeks learning every nuance of this new being. His temperament, his appetite, his sleep, his breathing, his learning curve, his growing curve, and the infinite list of firsts that seem to occur without warning and without stopping.

Then, one day, it's all over. And there's one thing that is hard to grasp:

How hard it was to let go of her new life and go back to her old life.

The thing I've been able to do is be there, and to be here.

I'm at home with our son. We are fortunate like all parents in having this miracle to look at and have the opportunity to continue the species. We have the luxury of having a mild-tempered child, one who has been sleeping through the night since at least two months. He is not colicky, has no allergies that we know of, has never had severe diaper rash, and is perfectly happy to have others hold him.

As she goes back to her old job, I begin a new one. I'm a new species.

I'm a SAHD. A Stay-At-Home-Dad.

I don't like the acronym. I'm perfectly happy, thank you very much. However, contrary to what many men have alluded to, I neither took the easy way out nor did my wife get the short straw. Being at home is no walk in the park.

It's a challenge I'm up to, though. Preparation has been done, both mentally and physically. I am writing this blog as both a journal for myself as well as an aspiration to higher creative ventures. If there are readers, I hope you enjoy. Some entries will be serious, some will be funny, some happy, some sad. For sure, they will be real.