No Rest for the Weary.

I’ve never though being a stay at home dad was all that hard. My schedule is basically, wake up, feed, change diaper, repeat until bed time. What gets to you is the complete lack of a break…

I would have to say I have a pretty weak immune system. If someone is sick in the house a half a mile down the street and cough, somehow, that one germ flies through the air and make a beeline right toward my body. I found this out when I worked at a call center where sickness was passed around like a signup form.

If I was sick, I would come home and take a day off. That’s what sick leave was for. Well, that and when you need a vacation after you took a vacation. It was easy. Depending on my employer, I never had a problem. I got used to being able to recover from whatever sickness lying on the couch, in my underwear, moving in and out of consciousness watching TV. It was great.

When I came home, the rules changed. You don’t get a break. Yeah, you can find the occasional baby sitter, or maybe you can convince your wife to come home a little earlier, but for the most part, you have to push through you sickness.

You find you motivation where you can. Sometimes it’s the thought of getting out of the house that keeps you going. Or, you can find a project to focus on while battling bouts of nausea. Mostly, you do it because there is a little kid who needs you attention. Actually, he doesn’t need it, he demands it.

This last week was a bad week. I was sick with something for almost a week. Every ached and I was running fevers on and off. I was a bad parent, and most days I just sat him in front of the Disney Channel and tried to rest. This did not work. The moment I would doze off at all, my little alarm clock would jump on me and yell, “WAKE UP DADDY.” I was going downhill.

Then, I found the motivation I needed. I was kneeling before the porcelain thrown, get the last of the heaves out of my system, when the kid walked up next to me, put his arm over my shoulder, and said, “it’s okay daddy, I help you.”

Find the victories. Find the motivation. Otherwise, you will end up taking it out on those you love. Meanwhile, if you remember when your wife dropped the kids in you lap and told you she had been changing diapers all day and it was your turn, well, it’s their turn now.:)