What a Son-day!

One of the most interesting things about being the SAHD is how much more time I get to spend with Mo. This is unexpected because part of the way this works is she works and extra 12 hour shift each week. (I spent a year doing 50+ hour weeks, it's tough and she's amazing). We kinda assumed that this would mean we either wouldn't see each other as much, or potentially even less.

But here's the thing. We only have to worry about her schedule. Jo and I are available more or less whenever she is. This means whenever she does have free time, we are good to go. We don't have to juggle my schedule or daycare or anything.

The only thing getting in the way is her homework. She is in her last year of this masters degree and it's no joke hard work and takes up some time. When she is done, we will be golden. For now, we do what we can.

But, the other day she woke up with Jo and got him fed so I could grab a couple minutes of sleep and shave in peace. When I was ready I told her I was ready to take Jo so she could get going on homework. Then this happened.

"I got that done when Jo was eating breakfast"

"What?"

"It's done for today, I got it done."

"go shower, we're going to the zoo. High five."

Then we went to the zoo.

And everything was awesome forever. 

Cranky Son-day

So we went to church on Sunday. Jo was kinda cranky in the morning, but not too bad. Then fell asleep in the car and slept through the first part of service. This was nice, and quiet, and sweet.

And could not last.

He woke up and was a complete pill through sunday school, the ride home, basically the rest of the day in general.

So, I figured, he was already upset and cranky. May as well cut his hair.

May have over done it.

Dad-time Son-day

This week Jo went to the new MDO. It was a rougher drop-off than I thought it would be. He loooooves the toddler room at school. It's actually pretty tough to get him out of there when church is over. However, it took a good bit to get him to detach and go to the room on Wednesday. His teacher told me he was mostly fine and did good with the other kids.

I never believe people when they say he did fine.

I mean, when I do stuff with him, like go to the store...

Yes, it's as big as him. Everyone in the store smiled. 

Or play outside in the water...

love that thing.

Or whatever, he does fine. Maybe 1 in 10 times he is fussy or difficult. But in my mind, 10 seconds after I leave a room, his eyes glow red and he is horrid for hours on end. Then, people are too nice to look at me and say "Sir, your son is the anti-christ, here is holy water...do what needs to be done."

But, no matter how good he is, I need some time just to myself. I think everyone does. Not everyone gets it, but they need it. Last night I was able to just go out of the house without him. Went to Game HQ. I never buy anything there, or stay longer than 20 minutes, but I like to poke my nose in every now and again. It was nice to just kinda get away for an hour or so.

Super-slide Son-day

We went to TX yesterday for Miles' birthday. We've been looking forward to it because it's about the only time we get to see the Hendrix.

well, that and the In-N-Out burger. 

We would have liked to have stayed longer, even overnight, but it just wasn't feasible. As it was we got back just in time to let mo get her homework done before homework. Mo has 11 months left till she is done with her Masters degree. That should free up our flexibility for awesome things like spending a weekend with the Hendrix.

The party itself was pretty normal for the Hendrix...

...and by "normal", I mean "awesome". 

They were, as always, amazing hosts and the company they keep is wonderful. Every time I go, I meet some new friend of theirs who is awesome. It was also good to see Jennifer and her kids.

Here are a few of the highlights as the party continued:
First, Jenn and Shonda went down the slide.

Then, Jack went down...fully dressed.

Then, the magic happened.

Science Son-day

Today Jo had his dental check up. He did okay. Some crying of course, but come on. How often do you go to the dentist and not want to cry a little? What's weird is he loves to play with the toothbrush the dentist gives him. Just carries it around with him. We don't use it for brushing, we have another one for that.

After the dentist I was going to take him to the playground at the zoo...but it was HOT and a little busy. So, I figured I would give the science museum a try. He may be too young, but...we'll see how it goes.

It went well. 

He was pretty skittish at first. Little confused, little overwhelmed. He would have happily spent the entire day going up and down the stairs. Guys, seriously, the science museum has so many stairs. I felt bad about skipping my workout today until I was on my 5th time up the stairs.

He finally got interested in things that were not stairs.

Then, he found more stairs...

All in all, it was a successful trip. The science museum is a little pricey, but for when the weather is unbearable, it's a good way to get Jo out of the house. The annual pass may or may not be worth it.

Staying Home Son-day

Most of my closest friends already know this, but many others do not. At the end of May I lost my job. Technically, the position simply ceased to exist. I'm not going to dig into the details or my financial stability (both are fine). That's just not something I want to discuss or a real concern.

A more interesting, and vastly more relevant, discussion answers the question "So what the hell are you gonna do now?" 

I don't really know. I've applied to some school jobs (school psych and various levels of administration) with no real success. Either I am not really considered or the offer is a bad fit. Job hunting is exactly zero fun. Mo suggested she make some career/job changes so that I could be a stay-at-home-dad. Right now, that is the most likely scenario.

This last month and a half has been, by a WIDE margin, the best six weeks of the past...six years or so. Jo still goes to daycare most days, but I spend way more time with him. I've gotten stuff done around the house I never expected to get done. I've freed up Mo's time and (hopefully) given her more time to rest and get homework done. I'm happy, relaxed, and feel better about basically everything. I'm losing weight like crazy (with absolutely no effort whatsoever). 

In short, I wish I had quit two years ago. 

It's a weird transition though. I have my daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal to-do lists. I have list of activities to do with Jo when we pull him from daycare. I have contact information for several mother's day out programs. (I've even made jokes about how completely sexist that term is). 

I think it will work out fine, and I'll keep job hunting for the right job. I'm even working on filing for unemployment benefits. I am not at all convinced it will be a long term thing. But, if it turns out to be...

I can think of worse ways to spend time.

Son-day Carnival of Evil

To keep myself busy in this oddly stage of my life I've begun doing just about anything there is to do. Chores mostly. Helped dad with some of his school stuff. Nothing major yet.

I took this week off work (which is basically a tomb) to do some job hunting, burn off my overwhelming amount of PTO, and get some house stuff done.

The last storm blew through and beat the roof up, they should be replacing that this week (a day or so of hammers, Hooray!). Around that Mo and I hope to get the kitchen finished (finally, it's been a year) and paint a few rooms. Looking forward do it. 

One of the things I did this last weekend was build a carnival game with my dad. It was for the school carnival down at Dove and it was clever. Basically, it's a shooting game where kids fire squirt guns at toilet paper until it cuts off and falls. Neat idea. Worked perfect until it was set up outside and the wind became an issue. We made couple adjustments and everything is fine. We'll box it in when we have the chance. We are hoping to build a few more, it was fun. 

But my mom had a clever idea to re-use it beyond the carnival. Basically the idea is to set it up for Halloween. Kids come tricker treating, great play the game, the kid who wins gets an extra piece. Then, have a donation box for Wounded Warrior, St. Jude's, Humane Society, or whatever. If you make a donation, you play for a full-sized candy bar and get a BIG squirt gun. Prolly load the squirt guns with red water and put zombies or something behind the toilet paper, just to make it gruesome. 

The face of genius.