While Karen has been away, I took on the extra roles with the kids and the house. Let me just say there has been a time of adjustment. Cooking the meals, Keeping the house clean, getting the kids to do their homework, and every thing else, all while working full time has been a struggle and I have a new found appreciation for my wife and especially for any single parents who do this every day.
Phebe had fallen behind with some school work and we were meant to work on some each day, however her book mysteriously disappeared for 5 days. So that didn't happen when it should have. It took a visit to the school to talk with the teacher and a few more days, until we finally made progress. It actually didn't get completed until Karen came home. I really had to rely on the other kids to help Phebe as by the time I got home, cooked dinner and bathed Phebe, it was her bed time. Phebe just wasn't co-operating. I think this was more to do with her missing her mum than my parenting skills.
The kids have also noticed that Dad does some things differently than Mum and there was some resistance to my style at first also. Just little things, like, not driving them to school if they were running late. My approach is that I do not want to reward them (drive them to school) for their poor choices (not getting up for 30 minutes after I woke them up). By the way, why won't kids set the alarm clocks on their phones? What is with that?
Things eventually settled down now as we were all making adjustments. I think the kids have also gained a greater appreciation due to having me instead of their Mum look after them.
I actually wrote a list of all the things that apparently I do differently than my wife. Karen and I will certainly be discussing these points when she returns to determine our agreed approach (or discover if the kids are pulling the wool over my eyes with what they have been telling me about what Mum would do).
Oh what a hoot! Now all day I will have visions of you running around with a duster in one hand and packing school lunches with the other! Well done Aaron and well done on your appreciation of what mums do. I went away for a month with my work and Dennis scoffed at me when I asked did he think he could cope, at the end of the first week, he decided to take annual holidays just to manage the stuff at home!!!! and that was just with two teenagers.
ReplyDeleteyou know that is something that stumps me too ... why dont kids use the alarm feature on their phones when they use them for absolutely everything else and apparently cant bare to be apart from them??
ReplyDeleteI also think its good for both the kids and the dad to have to have times like this - Mum is much more appreciated (at least for 30 mins or so) when she returns and hence this is why I have to go to Convention every year ;) Congrats on your new impending addition to the family :)