Monday, September 12, 2011

Errand Boy

I've been thinking about when this gig is over, when I've finished raising my kids. Maybe I'll see if I can find a job as an errand boy. I know they call them personal assistants these days, but Errand Boy would be cooler on a business card.
I'd love to say that I perform all the tasks of an errand boy for my wife. She asks, I do it. No worries, no problems, it's done and done right. I'm not quite that awesome, but I try.
This morning I had to run the kids to school, do the grocery shopping, head back to school to get some soccer fliers approved to send home with all of the kids and then drive over to my wife's work to drop off bread. Tomorrow I have to do my usual elementary and preschool drop-offs and I also have to pick up a book from the library for my wife so she has something good to read on the plane and I probably have to drop off a package at the post office as well.
I've said before, and I'm sure I'll say again, that a big part of my job is releasing my wife from worry. Or at least trying to. She never has to worry about having to pick up sick kids from school. When she has to go in to work early she can. If a meeting that is supposed to end at 4:00 really ends at 6:00 it's fine, we miss her at dinner but the kids are still taken care of and dinner is still served. When she has to travel for work she always can. The bills are paid on time. There is someone here to get packages. There's food in the fridge and dinner on the table. If she needs something from the store, just put it on the list, if I'm not a flake I'll get it. Sometimes I'm a flake. If she hears about a good book from someone at work or on the radio, just let me know, I'll get it reserved and picked up from the library. I even keep looking for any extra things that I can do.
My wife goes to work every day. She releases me from the worry of having to earn a living. That's a huge worry and a huge burden to bear when you are a one income household. I try my damnedest to shoulder all of the other day to day worries and tasks that I can.  
Sometimes it's hard to feel like an equal member of the team, no matter how hard you try. I can't make the money my wife does, I can't step into her shoes, I can't carry the weight she does. This is the socially hard part of being a stay at home dad, and maybe it is for moms too. I don't know. I know I don't need to justify myself to anyone, but I do sometimes wish that there was some sort of accreditation for stay at home dads. I wish I could pull out a card that proves to anyone that dammit, I'm worth what I get paid.
A Man card.  That might actually be cooler than Errand Boy

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