Daddy Diaries: Meet Simon

We are so excited to begin a new series on the blog, featuring some amazing local dads!  In our “Daddy Diaries”, we will hear from some awesome daddies sharing THEIR side of the story.  Today we welcome Simon, who used to be a “working-dad” but is now learning that the term “working” can also apply to those of us who stay at home! 

A new perspective

            Hello! My name is Simon Joshua Peters, and I am a stay at home mom. Well, at least most of the time. Currently I am doing full-time, on-line school because most of my life has been spent trying to become something that I am now doing for free. In no way am I complaining.  I love my life, and I love my family, I just never expected to get to be the parent that gets to stay home. At this point in my life, it would be safe to say I am in your pants more than I am in my wife’s. I guess “shoes” would probably be a better way to put that, but regardless…I get the perspective mostly only mothers get and fathers rarely get to see. Believe me, I am not ever going to take it for granted, but with this rare glimpse into the normally-female-world of the “stay at home mom”, I can see why so many men take their ladies for granted and why so many women secretly have a fair amount of animosity built up towards their hubbys.

I used to be the bread winner and work for a living.  During this time, my wife stayed home and did school. On any normal day I would wake up, go to work, come home, eat, play with my kid, watch TV, sleep, rinse and repeat. The thing was, I never really stopped to think about what Megs was doing all day. In my mind, she had the best life anyone could imagine: someone to take care of her financially so she wouldn’t have to worry about it, and gets to spend every waking moment watching her kid grow up. But for some silly reason I never really put 2 and 2 together and recognized that my house always seemed to be clean, my dishes washed, and I must have had a miracle child because I swear that thing never had anything come out of any orifice other than giggles from her chubby little face.

Boy was I wrong…. and kind of a jerk. Now I stay at home and I see what all goes into what I call “home care” because it is not just about changing the diapers of unspeakable evil that apparently occur when babies are teething, but also cleaning the house, doing the dishes, doing the laundry, vacuuming, caring for the dog, mopping, and oh yeah, trying to find time to do school work.  Now, I know my wife has the perspective that I have of seeing both sides, but for some reason I still find ways to secretly resent her. When I really sit back and think about it, I realize it’s because I feel like she never says thank you. To be honest, I don’t really consider myself a “words of affirmation” type of person but it’s still nice to know people recognize when you are working hard. The thing is though, I know she appreciates me and what I do because she has been in my shoes.

What it really boils down to is that I just want an adult to talk to at the end of the day, someone to communicate with on an intellectual level and for once in my day not feel like I’m taking care of the person I’m with. Communication is such a stupid thing that gets overlooked and ignored more often than not.  But it is EXACTLY what keeps marriages together. Fights are good, because they keep each party in check and make sure no one is overstepping boundaries. Dates are amazing, because you get to spend time with your true love. Dinner together as many nights as possible is incredible, because decompression for both parties is sometimes all that’s needed.

Life is too short to not let your spouse know how much you love and appreciate them. Take advantage of your youth and go do spontaneous things once you have had thorough conversations about what the others lifelong dreams and desires are. Before you know it, your kids will be gone and you will have a whole new set of problems to endure and adventures to embark on. Life is short, youth is shorter, childhood is a dream. Don’t let any of it pass you by because you are bad with communication. God Bless all of you moms (and dads) out there, and thanks for all that you do!