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Ok here is the last question of our questionaire.

Question #13
Overall, has your job as a stay-at-home father been personally fulfilling?

This would have to be a strong yes. Staying home with your children is absolutely priceless and extremely rewarding. The rewards obviously don’t come in the style of a paycheck but there are many other ways to be rewarded. Simply being able to stay home and watch your kids take their first step or speak that first word is really rewarding. All that diaper changing and formula feeding actually paid off.

Also, when you teach your children to do something and next thing you know they are doing it on their own is one of the most rewarding parts of staying home.

Though there are moments when you feel tired, worn out, and nothing seems that fulfilling. But overall, it is very rewarding and personally I wouldn’t switch it out with another job. I have worked at over 12 other businesses prior to becoming a Stay at Home Father and not one of those jobs was as rewarding as what I do now.

sillydad

Wow, what a nice couple of days it has been around here. Unfortunately the rain is coming again but I was able to get the kids out, clean up the back yard, do some repairs, and believe it or not take a few pictures. I would like to share them with you.

Here is Sam kneeling by his soccer ball

Caught a great shot of Isobel flinging the frisbee.

Emma here is trying to fit in and stole Sam’s ball away so I could snap a picture of her.

Last and of course not least I snapped a picture of my canoe sitting on the canoe rack I just built so I can raise it up off the lawn. Poor grass was dying. Now I can get in there and mow under it.

-sillydad

Study: Stay-at-home moms deserve high pay

What about Stay at Home Dads???

MSNBC came out with an article that pinpoints an average dollar amount if a mother was to stay home with her children and actually receive a pay check.

Just in time for Mother’s Day, an informal study conducted by Web site Salary.com shows that stay-at-home moms would earn an average of $131,471 annually, including overtime, if they received a paycheck.

And not to toot my own horn but, men stay home too… Where can I pick up my paycheck at the end of the week..??

Anyway, you may find the rest of the article interesting - go read it.

-sillydad

So how are you guys liking the idea of me answering this questionaire? I haven’t had too many comments since I started doing this. This is the second to last one and I will finish it up but thought I could get some feedback from you guys. I have no idea if you are completely bored with it or really like it. So please drop me a comment and let me know if you like what I am doing here. If so, maybe we can do more questionaires in the future. Anyway here is number 12…

Question #12
How has becoming a stay-at-home parent changed your relationship with members of your family and your outlook on family life?

Out of all of the questions this has to be the best one, and most sincere. All the other questions are already set up to answer almost defensively. On the other hand, confrontational questions make good questionaires. But, let’s break this down into two parts as there are really two questions here.

How has being a stay at home dad changed my relationship with family members?
With extended family, once they got over the intitial shock it has actually been more of a pleasant change than a bad one. Unfortunately there are probably people reading this right now who are not so lucky to have family support. Most of family is supportive of what I do, though I am sure there is quite a bit of talk behind my back on how crazy I am, but when it is all said and done… my family is quite supportive.

But how has that changed? Conversations tend to coincide with family projects or discussion about my kids. I am not sure if that is simply because I am a parent or a stay at home father or both. I would assume if I were working outside of my home I would talk more about my job as I used to do. That would have to be the number one difference. I remember talking about how work was going. I still do the same but my work is with my children.

Within my immediate family I would say it hasn’t changed much at all as we were preparing for this day from the “get go”. We knew my wife would soon be off working for a nice business and at the same time we wanted children. We knew it was coming but we weren’t sure exactly when.

How has being a stay at home dad changed my outlook on family life?
This is a great question. Being a stay at home dad has really impacted me and how I view not only family life but the world. Little things like walking your kids to the bus stop and a speedy car drives by. You get an unsettling feeling that you never would have gotten before just knowing your kids are near by and are vulnerable. I know that I become more protective around my children. Before having children of my own I heard parents who said they would take a bullet for their own kids, or jump out in front of a moving vehicle to save their own children. I sort of understood and I was probably sure I would do the same. But now having children of my own there is no “probably”. There is no doubt I would do anything to protect them.

But that is parenting. How about now that I am actually a full time stay at home dad? I know when my kids have eaten last. I know what they are up to 24/7. Since I have stayed at home I have been more in tune with their needs and wants. I understand children more now than I ever did and can almost see what is going on in their little minds. Prior to having a family of my own I just didn’t understand kids. Now I do, and staying home as helped me really know my own children.

I also get to see my kids take their first step, say their first word, and discover the world right in front of you and it is amazing. It is something you would never understand until you have children of your own some day. So being a stay at home dad has really impacted me even more than just being a working parent.

I am more in tune with local and state government “going-ons” than just federal. I listen more on educational issues as my children will be greatly affected my them. I actually know when the library is open and when it closes at night and on the weekends. Being more in tune to what could possibly affect your kids is something that being at home has forced me to do.

And I am sure there are a ton more things I am not even aware of that has changed me and influenced my outlook on family life and the world.

sillydad

Today we will move on to number 11 of our questionaire.

Question #11
Has becoming a stay-at-home dad made you feel as though you were less of a man? Why or why not?

As I mentioned before, most of this is just overcoming what others think about you. A long while back I wrote an article called overcoming stereotypes you may be interested in reading through. When it comes to dealing with myself I am very comfortable when it comes to staying home. The problem is how others perceive you and how to overcome those stereotypical feelings you know others are pinpointing you with.

But have I really felt like less of a man? I would have to admit there are days I wish I could be out fishing, or even working at a different job. But, having worked before at more than a dozen different types of jobs, I soon realized those feelings are normal no matter what I did, even including being a Stay at Home Father. There are always other things I want to do besides what I am doing currently. I think this is quite normal.

The biggest rut for a Stay at Home Father is the stereotype rut. Once you can overcome this then you can move on and soon realize what you are doing is not making you less of a man but more of one.

I would have to agree, though, if I were living in a different era staying home while my wife worked may not be a “manly” thing to do. But today anybody can hold a job and it is not unheard of for both parents to be out working. So in the same regards it is not that bad in today’s day and age for a man to change a few diapers and clean up around the house.

-sillydad