My husband unfortunately lost his job in November 2009.
While it wasn’t wholly unexpected it was still a bit of a shock. He’d had inklings this might happen, so we’d been watching what we spent and saved money for our “rainy day” fund. Thankfully he received a severance package so our financial picture stayed the same for a while.
The biggest change was his new role in our family: Mr. Mom. There is no doubt my husband loves our daughters more than anything, but he had never been a real “hands-on” kind of dad.
Before he was laid off, I doubt he’d changed more than a dozen diapers in the 3 ½ years we’d been parents. He’d never put a toddler down for a nap, never helped someone eat a meal, never been the ONLY adult in the house dealing with two very active and rambunctious girls for longer than an hour at a time. It was definitely an adjustment.
In the beginning he struggled. The girls drove him crazy with their constant need: cups of water, snacks in a bowl, never-ending whining to play. I came home from work some days to find him completely frazzled.
“All day, they have been running around, shouting at each other, screaming for me. ALL DAY!” But, as with all new things, he learned from experience. Through trial and error he figured out what worked for him and for our daughters.
Routine was crucial to his sanity. That and the opportunity to get to the gym every day to relieve the stress that had rapidly built up due to a lack of good job prospects in the current market, our never-ending renovation projects, and a toddler and preschooler who don’t listen (most of the time). The morning routine now runs like clockwork and he is the go-to guy to get a stubborn toddler down for a nap (I’m a little jealous of that).
My husband recently started a new job and he is very excited about future prospects developing from this position. He is a determined, ambitious individual who really enjoys a challenge (which this job delivers on) but if you asked him, and it was financially feasible, he would love to stay home with our girls longer. He received the opportunity to bond deeper with our older daughter and to really get to know our younger daughter. He cherishes the time he spent with them and feels so lucky he was given the opportunity to be a full time parent while our daughters were young.
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