Mom Life Series: What I Learned about Stay-at-Home-Mom Life, Told by a Dad at Home Unexpectedly

My husband and I have been married for 10 years, and until this past September, he had a fairly predictable weekday pattern: he got up and went to work 5 days a week, for at least 8 hours a day.

I’d like to say that he came home every day to a clean house and dinner, but once we had children and I became a stay-at-home mom – sometimes that was true. Other days, it was not anywhere close.

As any stay-at-home mom knows, days with kids can be unpredictable, so when Brad would call on his way home each day, I got into the habit of recounting what I’d spent my day doing. My sweet husband would say, “You don’t have to defend your day.”

Brad didn’t understand my need to pinpoint any tasks from the day that I managed to complete that weren’t immediately undone by our three boys or us just living in our house, or why I was always marking the moments when the boys and I got to make crafts or cookies or go on a little adventure together.

My husband didn’t get it until his position at work was eliminated during restructuring last September.  Suddenly he found himself with a front row seat and a backstage pass to the everyday reality of my life as a stay-at-home mom while he looked for a new job.

Now he understands what it means like never before, and I’ve asked him to share what he’s learned during his time “off” about life for a stay-at-home mom. Here’s what Brad had to say.