For the first half of Cool Baby’s life in utero, we were actually planning for Cool Dad to be the primary caregiver while I worked full time. Both of us were pretty excited about it. I really liked my job and Cool Dad dreamed of having time at home to care for the baby while pursuing his creative goals.
At a certain point, we felt God changing our minds and didn’t know why at the time. I left my job right before he was born.
Fast forward to a conversation that Cool Dad and I had this week:
CM: Do you ever wonder what it would’ve been like if we had stuck to our original plan?
CD: No.
CM: Why?
CD: I’m glad we didn’t. Plus, I don’t see how the baby would’ve allowed me to do any of that creative stuff I had intended to do while caring for him.
CM: Yeah, you would’ve just spent every moment of the day driving him around town to keep him happy.
CD: I know. Think about all the money we would be spending on gas.
CM: So, do you mean to say that even on your most BORING, MISERABLE day at work, you still wouldn’t want to trade places with me?
CD: (without hesitation) Nope.
Wait, what does that mean? Did I end up with the bad end of the deal? Is Cool Baby really that hard to deal with? No wait, I like being the full-time parent!
After analyzing this, I’ve come to the conclusion that I happen to have married one of the few guys in the world who understands how much work it can be and is thankful to have married someone who feels that they are “living the dream” while doing that work. And he “wouldn’t want to take that away” from me.
Okay that last part sounds like the old line guys use to get out of doing things they don’t want to do. But this time, I think he’s serious. What a Cool Husband.
Related posts:
thats cool.
My husband and I have had to trade places for a short while, while he gets his venture up and running, and we want to trade back! He’s not totally keen on being the stay at home dad!
My husband is the same. In that he has always recognized just how big a job raising kids is. Being with them every minute of the day.
I think our guys are few and far in between. I am very grateful!
you are very blessed!
i really like these kinds of posts. keep it up, Cool Mum!
seriously, that’s how i feel. and CM’s better equipped for it, too. CB doesn’t like the bottle and when he needs milk, I’m stuck.
(i was tempted to make a ‘baby biting my nipple’ joke there, but refrained. aren’t you proud?)
What a lovely post! In true AWSC style, as well.
I’ve watched both my brothers and my take on the work-full-time-while-mommy-stays-at-home deal. And they both definitely realize how much work it is to take care of the kiddos for most of the day. Both my brothers are fantastic dads and they have set the bar pretty high for me when it comes to marriage and parenting. I’ve also seen them make some pretty goofy mistakes, but obviously that comes with the territory! It makes me look forward to that part of life, most definitely.
I should probably do this for a while. It would give me a new appreciation for all my wonderful wife does. Just found your blog and love it. Keep up the great post.
Though JustMatt makes a big deal out of telling me how hard my job is and all of that, whenever he gets a chance to do it for awhile, he shows me up by not only having the girls doing something creative and productive, but also having the house cleaner than it’s been since the last time I left him in charge for an extended period of time. I don’t know what to make of it.
my wife and i had similar plans up until about a month before our first was born. a pastor friend gave us a book called “Rocking the Roles” that completely changed our thinking. when i take vacations there is a point in time where i’m ready to go back to work and my wife is ALSO ready for me to go back to work! different strokes for different folks!