This year’s perfect Father’s Day gift – a job
I was pushing junior on the local swings yesterday morning (mid-week) - albeit in a rather posh part of west London (OK, I’m might have been a bit liberal in my use of the term “local”) - when the three year old on the adjacent swing started shouting “my daddy’s at work”. Normally I would have been fairly relaxed by the parting of such information, but the fact that she was staring right at me as her decibel levels increased, bought me out in a bit of a panic. My immediate, perhaps slightly illogical reaction was that this canny toddler had clearly picked up on my unemployed status and was eager to point out that her daddy was still bringing home the bacon. As the mum (or worse, the nanny?) started to giggle, I managed to mutter “oh, that’s nice for him”, grabbed junior and moved swiftly onto the sandpit section. Not one other male (adult) in sight; presumably they have yet to be affected by the big “R”. Give it time boys, give it time.
In fact, this is my third stint at unemployment across a 20-year working career that’s had the odd professional peak to be vaguely proud of. And in a weird sense, probably given my previous “form”, I’m handling it OK. But the big difference this time around is that I have a wife – who takes intricate interest in my daily routine and is, shall we say, keen that I fully experience a wide range of household and child care duties when not searching for gainful employment. If I’m not meeting head-hunters, networking or going for high-powered job interviews, she’ll want to know why I haven’t cleaned the oven, kitchen floor and toilet yet, given junior his tea (she hates that word, whereas I’m quite fond of it) and put dinner on (OK - I’m fibbing on the dinner bit). And of course, as you will have gathered by know, I’m a dad with “huge responsibilities”, as my wife so candidly puts it.
Now I love my wife dearly, she is a very smart cookie and great mum; but if ever there was an incentive to get off benefits, living with my wife must surely be it. Actually that’s a bit unfair. It’s just that we have a very different attitude to my current state of joblessness. I know things will come right in the end, but for her, having me around on top of no monthly pay check is a situation that just won’t wash.
This is an excerpt from an article MumsRock wrote for our lovely friends at Alphamummy, so if you would like to read the rest of it please click here: Alphamummy
Have you been made redundant? Or your spouse? If so how are you coping? Do you have any tips on how to deal with a Dad (or a mum) back in the house? We'd love to hear from you.
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