6:30 am – Woken up by the sound of laughing coming from Little Man’s room. Look at my phone to check the time, let out a low growl, and pull the covers over my head.
6:47 am – My covers are missing and Little Girl is smacking me in the face with my glasses. No wonder I wake up every morning with a headache.
7:09 am – LM is yelling that he needs to go use the potty. Time to get up and take him to take care of business.
7:48 am – Despite being so overly tired, we have prepared two sippy cups, changed a diaper, and done at least 3 dancey dances already. Coffee is not an option at this point.
8:30 am – The Wifey has left for her internship downtown and LM is off to school. It’s now just me and LG.
9:00 am – Picnic breakfast on the floor. Cereal for me and cheese curls for her. Milk for us both.
10:07 am – First poop diaper of the day.
10:35 am – Second poop diaper. This is getting old and fast.
11:45 am – Time to take LG for a nap. She fights sleep for 30 minutes and is finally out. Time to bound down the stairs and get ready for Little Man to come home from school.
12:45 pm – Little Man is home. Chips and Nacho Cheese for lunch and watching Yo Gabba Gabba. This is a good time for me to check emails, Twitter, Facebook, and so on and so on.
2:00 pm – LG is back up from her nap, Little Man is hyped up for no reason, and the living room looks like Santa dropped his bag right through my roof. The next few hours will be a test of my endurance, patience, and of course, my mad diaper changing skills.
4:30 pm – Time to try and clean up before the Wifey gets home. The vacuum cleaner has its work cut out for it.
5:15 pm – The Wifey is home and the kids have caught their second wind. Round 2 begins.
6:45 pm – Time to round up the herd and get them upstairs for bath and bedtime. This is always a chore once the bath is underway. Neither wants to get out. When we get them to realize the water is draining then they fight over who goes first. Toddlers. Pssht.
7:30 pm – Say goodnight to Little Man and take Little Girl off to bed. This is where co-sleeping becomes a fail for us. She still thinks daddy is ready to play when he most certainly is not. It will be a while before she is settled and a bit longer before she is out.
9:00 pm – Finally back downstairs and ready to relax with The Wifey and finish up some stuff online before bed.
And to think, this is my schedule outside of work. You see, a dad’s job is never done. You may have the day off from your place of employment, but in the home, there is no vacation. There is no paid leave, no getting off early, and no long weekends. Well, maybe the weekends where the children are sick. Those seem to go on forever.
I always joke at work that it’s time to leave and head to my “other job”. The fact is, being a dad is my only job. The reason I work outside of the home is for my family. If I didn’t have to, I probably wouldn’t. But that is my job as a dad. It is my job to provide, and to show my son what that means as he grows older. It is a 24/7 no medical benefits job. In fact, some argue it may lead to partial dumbness after viewing too many episodes of Barney and Teletubbies.
Would I like a lighter schedule? Of course, who wouldn’t? All parents wish they had just a little more free time. But would I trade it for a different life? Never. I will work the rest of my life, because this job is worth it in the end. My day of is just a day out of the store. Other than that, the principal is always in the office, the doctor is always in, and dad is always just a call, yell, screech, sing, toy throw, burp, fart, puke, poop, and I love you away.
