Groundhog day. We all know what it’s about. We have all pretty much seen the movie…
…and for the most part, we’re all pretty much living it.
When you have kids, the routine goes a little something like this:
- Dad gets up at 5am. Get’s ready for work. Wakes up family at 6:30am.
- Kids and wife get up, eat breakfast and get ready for school/drop off.
- Dad gives kisses and hugs goodbye and commutes to work.
- Kids struggle to the car. Mom gets a large coffee with a shot of espresso and drops kid(s) off at school.
- Mom does whatever she does during the day with kid(s) not in school.
- Dad grinds away at the sweat shop.
- Mom goes shopping to kill time, then picks up kid(s) from school.
- Mom begins dinner.
- Dad commutes home and eats with the family.
- Night time comes and kids are bathed, PJ-ed and put to bed.
- Parents enjoy a couple of hours of DVR’ed material and hit the sack.
- Alarm goes off at 5am and it starts again.
Dah Dah, Dah Dah, Dah Dah, Dah Dah….I got you babe.
Does it really take Don 90 minutes to get ready in the morning before he wakes up the family?
What I’m missing there Seth, is about a half hour of snooze button hitting, a 25-35 minute morning deuce, and just a little QT with the kids before I head out the door. So really, it’s about a half hour…and that’s taking my time.
As a stay-at-home dad myself, I’d say that the line “Mom does whatever she does during the day with kid(s) not in school” encompasses an entire world of things that you’re not even aware of. Just for kicks, try this sometime: instead of taking a vacation, take a week off work and send your wife out for roughly 8 or 9 hours during each day. See how quickly your house falls apart. By the time you get back to work, it’ll feel like a vacation.
Jonathan,
I know exactly what you mean. I don’t need 8 hours to figure that out. My wife goes out for a night with her friends and comes home to a house that’s:
- bombarded with toys
- a sink filled of dishes
- a kid in diapers that hasn’t been changed in a couple of hours
- kids fed with stuff that’s loaded with sugar
- where bathing kids is optional
- laundry is piled up and unfolded
- a dad that’s half in the bag because he’s been pounding down the brews, while killing Nazi’s via Call of Duty on the Wii
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, my wife has a tougher job than I do. In this case, you’re stepping up and representing for the men. We applaud you for your efforts. Just don’t tell us you’re heading out to go grocery shopping when in all actuality, you’re getting a manicure and pedicure, then sucking back some martini’s with your girl friends.
Kidding…seriously though, kudo’s to you for being in the trenches every day. You’re a stronger man than me!
As a stay-at-home dad myself, I'd say that the line “Mom does whatever she does during the day with kid(s) not in school” encompasses an entire world of things that you're not even aware of. Just for kicks, try this sometime: instead of taking a vacation, take a week off work and send your wife out for roughly 8 or 9 hours during each day. See how quickly your house falls apart. By the time you get back to work, it'll feel like a vacation.