Happy Fathers Day: A Guest Post + Inside Look.

June 19, 2016

Happy Father's Day to all you amazing dads out there! Especially my dad, my brother, my father in law, my brother-in-law and Adam (the best dog-dad ever, no pregnancy announcement here). You dads are rocking this dad thing and I'm so thankful to a part of your life and all the littles you raised/are raising.  Today we celebrate you!

I am super excited for this today's post. In light of fathers day, I thought, what is a better way to celebrate this day then have a dad write the post! Today, my amazing brother-in-law Joe is sharing his life as a dad and all the many adventures it brings. He is the dad to my amazing little nieces, Izzy and V, and such a good one at that.

Without further ado.
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Ah the weekend! I know we all get the feeling on Friday morning that the weekend is just mere hours away. Thank God. Shut off the alarm clock, make some plans (or plan to do nothing), pour a drink and just relax. You’ve earned it, the work week can be brutal. Bosses, annoying coworkers, TPS reports (whatever those are) and work clothes, are just the worst. The weekend is for our mental health, so we can forget about all the drama and recharge the brain. As a Dad of two little girls the weekend gives me the time to spend every waking minute of my time with these sweet little angels. Sounds great right? It is, but to be clear the weekend isn’t the break it used to be. 
 

Now the weekend is a mini work week where my bosses, who are three and one years old, seemingly call the shots, demand the impossible, and keep me on my job from 6:30 am to 8:30 pm . Two 14-hour work days and the pay is lousy. It all starts with a wake-up call from my three-year old boss an inch away from my face. 


“Daddy, wake up. Daddy, Dad, Dad, daddy, WAKE UP!” 

I don’t dare turn over in bed or ignore this request because the volume will only increase. If the volume increases my second boss, the one-year old, may also wake up. I begrudgingly roll out of bed to start the day. Before we even get downstairs I get the first snack request of the day. There will be a 100 more such requests today. “Daddy, can I have a snack and watch a show?” “Yes” I say and I proceed to turn on some Peppa Pig and get her a snack, which is really just the first of many breakfasts. I pour myself some coffee and get into my chair to watch that sweet British Pig for what I hope to be a 15 minute break, but five minutes in I hear the cry of the lil boss. She is awake, now the job really gets tricky.

Lil Boss is different than Big Boss. She doesn’t say much and will act likes she’s my best friend but I know better. Her demand for 1 breakfast is persistent and she won’t stop until she’s in that high chair with a banana. Big Boss sees that Lil boss got a banana and that is not acceptable to her. She WANTS a banana. Let the competitions begin. The day will be filled with mine vs. yours or in their minds, mine vs. mine. I will be their diplomat. 



My wife comes down stairs and that signals to the Bosses that it is time for 2nd Breakfast! I will be their cook today. I whip up some pancakes and all are happy for a time. Meals are good for the family, it gives us all something to do. It’s when they are done eating when things once again get complicated. 

Now it’s the tough decision of what are we going to do today? Its only 0900, what are we going to do for the next 11 hours. On this day we decided to kick off summer right and go to the pool. Going to the pool before the Bosses was so simple. Pack a hat, sunscreen, towel and you’re good to go. With them it’s like packing to go out of town for a few days. Snacks, drinks backup diapers swim diapers sunscreen baby hats, baby goggles swim toys etc.…… Oh and forget relaxing in the sun, the Big boss wants go down the waterside. I get to the top of the slide secretly hoping she doesn’t like the water slide because if she does I will be going down this damn slide 25 more times in the next two hours. We go down, she loves it! Face palm!! I will be her lifeguard

The rest of the time at the pool its alternating snack and slide requests. It’s finally time to go, how do we know? Well I know it’s time because Big Boss is so excited slash tired she is spinning in circles and screaming and Lil boss is out of cheerios. The wife and I are tired. So are the Bosses. We plan to get home for nap/break time. It is 3:00. Still 5 hours left in this work day, we NEED a break. Big Boss has different plans though. Once we get in the house, “Can I have a snack and watch a show? I stand up to her and say no to the snack (shes had about 12 today) but give in to more Peppa Pig. It is quiet time in the house. The Lil one naps and the other watches a Pig jumping in muddy puddles. 

It’s time to gear up for the evening push. The neighbors have invited us over for a BBQ. Again, sounds fun right? Well the wife and I are already running on E and I will have to go to the store. But hey, maybe I can have a couple of beers and adult interactions. Plus the Bosses need time with the neighbor’s Bosses. I will be their social coordinator. 



We arrive at the neighbors and apparently I have a new employer and he wants me to play baseball, then soccer, then football. I will be his coach/teammate

At least I don’t have to cook again as the neighbor takes on the grill. I have to feed the Bosses, the Lil one on my lap. I eat last. Then we play with all the new toys in the neighbor’s house until it’s time to leave. Big boss does not want to leave. She never wants to leave a good time. She is a party. Lil one however is delirious and has a full diaper so its time to wrap up the work day. I won’t go into the bedtime process but just imagine pulling out every negotiating tactic you’ve ever used and cramming them into a twenty minute period. Big boss tries her last few attempts at pulling rank with more requests. The last being that she wants to go to outer space. I say, “But we would need a space ship” She says, “Well Peppa Pig went to outer space?! You can just by a space ship!” Damn British Pig! I lie and say that I will look into it and see if I have enough money for a space ship. I kiss her on the head and say good night. Then switch with my wife so that each boss can get adequate time with their staff for one final review before they fall asleep. I will be their Daddy.



So one day down and one to go. This weekend job is more tiresome than my M-F. As much work as I have done today, my beautiful wife has done more and we are drained. It’s been a long day. I anticipate what tomorrow will bring and it make me even more exhausted. Then, after 10 minutes of time without the requests and the laughter and tears, I start to miss them. 

I pull out my phone and look at my photos of the day (which are posted here) and am once again reminded that I have the best job in the world. I said that the pay is lousy but I lied. It doesn’t fill my bank account but it fills my heart and soul. My wife and I will work for them for the rest of our lives and I couldn’t be more pleased with our choice to take on this job. 

Best Bosses, rather babies in the world!


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1 comment

  1. What a great job explaining life as a father Joe-Happy Fathers Day!!

    ReplyDelete

I love hearing from all of you and greatly appreciate all your feedback and comments! xx Kristen