Stay at Home Daddy

Well life has changed significantly in the last week but all for the better. My husband is no longer working for the company he gave 5 years of hard work and long hours to. We will adjusting to beooming a one family income. It will take some sacrifices on our end but it will be worth it! My husband worked many longs day (usually 12 hours) and most weekends. He really missed out on being around and enjoying family time. He often came home and the baby was already in bed and usually saw him in the mornings before work/daycare. Now he is taking on the role of staying at home with Niam. I think him not working is truly a blessing-he is happy again and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted from his shoulders. When a company changes management you have no idea how much that can affect a person until you are living it. My husband's new boss literally sucked the life out of him. He was 100% all about his company and promoted it 24/7. He really was a poster child for that company and a lot of his coworkers, family and friends saw it. In May 2013 his new boss came on and damn she was out to get him for sure. He had other employees tell him to 'watch his back' and that she was targeting him. In the state of North Carolina you can be fired/terminated/let go for no reason and so on October 7th when my husband went into work he was told he was done. When he called to tell me the news I was shocked. Truth be told there went 2/3's of our income but as the day went on I felt good about it. By the time I was home I could tell he was feeling even better about it and could actually breathe again, laugh and relax. So now he will focus on school and staying home with the baby and I will being the 'working momma'. It will work because it has to work. I look forward to my daily text messages, pics, and Face Time with him and the baby. I love that he is getting to be home with Niam during a time when all he wants to do is play and explore. This time with him is good for the both of them. Eventually he will go back to work and when he does I pray it is for a company and a boss that respects him as much as he respects them.

You Have No Idea.

You really think you know what parenting is all about until you have that baby.  People can tell you how much 'work' it is or that you need to do this or need to do that but really all that advice is for the birds.  It takes time but you find what works for you.  There are so many things I said I would never do but did i.e. co-sleep and my God during that four month sleep regression-we co-slept or we did not sleep at all.

Funny how you go into parenting thinking one thing is right or better.  Then you become a parent and realize every decision you make is right for you and your child but may not be right for someone else and their child.  I have had a lot of mom's I know pass judgement on those who chose formula over breastfeeding and I have to say while I was and still am successfully breastfeeding some women just cannot do it.  During the first month I really wanted to quit.  His latch was horrible and to be honest-it really effin hurt.  I would cringe knowing it was almost time for him to eat and cry in pain while he ate.  It eventually got better but some days I really was not sure if I could do it.

The lack of sleep was the worst but somehow as parents we can push through it and function on little to no sleep at all.  Then just when a routine is established and you are getting say 4 or 5 solid hours of sleep-a growth spurt or wonder week happens and damnit there goes that sleep you were so looking forward too.  Being a parent is hard work, takes a lot out of you and can be stressful but I am lucky that my hubby is very involved and loves to help out.

I really have no idea how my mom did it on her own with 4 girls.  God bless her for it.

“Your children are not your children.
They are sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you.
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For thir souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the make upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness.
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He also loves the bow that is stable.”
― Kahlil Gibran