My husband had never taken a day off when we had our children. He wasn't able to take paternity leave for a number of reasons. In fact, the morning we had Caitiejane we went to the hospital had her within 20 minutes of arriving at 3:05 a.m., he took a quick nap, then went to work a few hours later. He's always been a hard worker and provider for our family, so when he lost his job earlier this month, it was quite shocking.
After the initial shock of losing his job he took action. Not just action of trying to find a new job, but embraced the job of child-rearing too. Not only did he care for the kids, he also did did laundry, cooked, and cleaned . I have to say, I was super impressed by this.
While my husband being out of work was completely unplanned, it allowed him the opportunity to embrace his inner "Mr. Mom." Needless to say, after three weeks of being out of work he had done the "mom role" better than me, and I'm not even mad about it. Quite the opposite, I'm incredibly proud to say that my husband made a better house husband than I ever have as a housewife.
I had stayed home from maternity leave twice and could barely keep up with caring for the kid(s). When I was on maternity leave, the house was often a wreck, and I was laid up on the couch when my husband arrived home. Yes, I realize that I had just pushed out a child, and was incredibly sleep-deprived, but still.
During those three weeks when he was home, dinner was always on the table when I arrived home, the house was picked up, clothes were put away, and the kids were as happy as could be. Now that my husband is back at work, I will miss his cooking, and nothing is sexier than a watching him be a dad. Just knowing that he proudly embraced this role wholeheartedly, even if it was temporary, brings a smile to my face.
It gave us both some perspective. He learned all the things that I try to do when I'm home with the kids. He learned that it can be difficult, but managed to figure out a way to do it better. And now that he's raised the bar about what it means to stay home with the kids, the next time I get a week to stay home with them he will expect me to have dinner on the table for him. Yikes! I better start practicing my culinary skills! Or just simply hand over the house husband trophy. In many ways that seems easier.
