geekdaddy

  It finally happened. The other shoe dropped at my job. I am too injured to work ten hours a day tending pre-schoolers. However, I am not injured enough to warrant any kind of compensation from my corporation. So I resigned. Yea capitalism? As it stands, I am once again a stay at home dad.

 The first time it happened was in 2001. My daughter was born, my teaching job was shit, and my boss was a certifiable nutcase. So, I left High School teaching, to take care of my newborn daughter. Everyone was irritated with me for that. However, I got through it.

 I learned that I am essentially a great stay at home parent. I like being at home. I don’t mind doing domestic things like cooking, cleaning, and shopping. There is a poetry to getting everything in my wife and daughter’s life organized just so.

 This time it was a work injury in June that laid me out. I can no longer stay on my left ankle for any great length of time. Goodbye teaching! Goodbye customer service! Hello domestic warrior! (That is my wife’s term for me. ) That is what you call a major career shift to the left.

 I like being a domestic warrior. I wake up in the morning, to my snuggly, cranky, beautiful six-year old. I make her a PB&J, and help her get ready for the day. I make sure my wife has a lunch, she often forgets, and get everyone to their various schools and jobs.

 Then I come home, the house is quiet. The jungle cats are asleep after being up all night nibbling on my toes. It’s time to write.

 I generally spend the first half hour doing job related stuff. I answer emails, troll for blogging jobs, apply for said jobs, and do a little desk related housekeeping. Then I write for an hour and a half. This can be revising submissions, updating my blog, or writing new material.

 I then take a half hour to revise any drafts that I have put aside due to them pissing me off for some reason. I usually let projects like that have a two day cool off period, so I can look at them with fresh eyes.

 Then I call my wife, and find out if she needs anything from me. If the answer is no, I will head to the store for tonight’s dinner. Last night I made homemade pot roast. Tonight it will be crock pot spaghetti.

 I then get some reading time in by taking my favorite novel du jour with me while I wait for my daughter to get out of school. Right now I am reading The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson. I arrive ten minutes early to ensure I get a parking space. Even with a handicap placard this can be a crap shoot. Then my smiling girl runs out to greet me, and we start our afternoon. (To Be Continued)

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