When work starts....and you don't

It is a little bit strange for me this week - as a high school teacher, I would normally be anxious about getting things ready for classes, trying to set up my classroom, etc. In fact, for the last 10 years I have envisioned my year not around the calender year, but the academic year. I would set up yearly plans of things I wanted to get done, sort of like New Year's Resolutions, but they would begin in August instead of New Year's Day.

I e-mailed a colleague the other day about needing to drop off a box of books at my old school. She mentioned being around school this week setting things, but the timing was bad for me and my girls. I said, "what about next week" and she mentioned, "We have to be back next week..."

That's when it hit me. Over the summer, staying at home has been pretty normal - as a teacher, summer is my time off. But now, my job becomes being a full time stay at home dad. Don't get me wrong, I would not trade places with anyone, not even after a day like yesterday when both girls were screaming for their bottles at the same time. but it is still a little bit weird.

Advice from everyone you know (and don't know)...

So I decided to abandon the daily updates, because honestly, some days, nothing exciting happened. The girls got up, they played, they ate, they pooped, they slept. Not too much to write about...

Its sort of funny how a dad pushing two twin girls gets so much advice from strangers. According to one saleswoman, it was so nice that I was spending some time with my daughters because most kids don't get enough attention from their dads because the dads are out working. And when Maddie was crying, of course I was told how she was either wet or hungry (both true, but I already had the covered)

It's also interesting how the world is still not ready for stay at home dads. I went to Starbucks one Friday after dropping off my wife. The girls were in a relative good mood, and I wanted to enjoy a Chi Tea Latte. An elderly gentleman first asked if I had twins. When I said yes, he asked, "Where's their mother?" He seemed a bit stunned when I said, "At work."

It will be interesting to see what other responses I get throughout this upcoming year...