Stay at home Dad - Part 1

After she visited the midwife today for the unpleasantly named 'stretch and sweep', in just a few days my lovely wife will go through the most heroic of experiences for the third time. Once 'baby pedro' (as he's been called since we found out 20 weeks ago that 'it' was a 'he') is born I've decided to give my wife and he a 'week off.' With two busy, energetic and enthusiastic children already in our home I wanted her and the little baby to have several days to get to know each other, get into feeding, 'bond' and have a proper rest.

Which means I've spent most of today thinking about the fact that for the first time in a very, very long while I'll have 7 consecutive days of getting our almost 4 year old and almost 2 year up out of bed, dressed, fed, and then entertained for the entire day. I'm approaching it with a little trepidation - I don't want it to be a week of battles and power plays (makes it sound like a military face off, not a week with my children). I'm also really excited to actually have so much time with them... and most of all being able to increase my appreciation of what it's like to be a stay at home parent. Being a 'work at home dad' means I overhear the conversations and frustrations of guiding, responding to and disciplining two little ones.

I'm not the absent parent I was before I left the busy work of marketing analysis agency work and answering to clients at any time of day. Now that I work from an office at home managing and co-ordinating Wilkinet baby carrier it also means I can pop downstairs for half an hour at lunch, always be home on time, never get caught in the evening commute, do their bedtime routine and on occasions let my wife get out on her own while I mind the kids.

But... it's very different to having the patience needed for a full day of it. I usually have my children 'in small doses' - whereas now I'll get about 12 hours a day. It's going to be a learning experience - and I'm looking forward to it. I hope the little ones are too.

Swaddling wraps

With baby number three arriving in the next week (or so), Helen and I have been making final preparations. She washed our old Wilkinets... given my job we could well have got one of the new baby carriers... but there's something about your first that really has an emotional bond. I was reading through some of the parents comments recently and as one said:

"I won't be having any more children and have passed on virtually all the baby things I accumulated. I haven't passed on the baby carrier - I got so much pleasure out of carrying a child around in it that I'm hoping one day my children will present me a grandchild I can carry in it!" (and because they last so long she probably will be able to).

Anyway... I digress back to preparations. We tried swaddling timothy and found he was a much calmer than Lucy (our first) at bedtime - that might just be his character (he's very laid back) - but I also believe that swaddling made a difference.

The blankets we used for Timothy were too small really - so Helen got some nice flannelet sheets and I put my sewing skills to the test and hemmed them. Having a mum who sewed for years (Sally Wilkins that is) I know the basics. It was a bit wobbly - but I felt very proud of myself and felt like I'd made a contribution (I realise it's small compared to what Helen is doing right now... but it still helped :)