The New Chapter (or...The Beginning)

         

 Shifting gears in my life has always been the norm. I'm one of those people that believes, if you're truly not happy, or what you're doing really isn't what's best for your family, then you should absolutely do something about it. That being said, you should not do anything that isn't a step forward, in one way or another.
          I have now embarked on another shift in gears in my life. As of yesterday, February 12th, 2014, I am an unemployed, stay-at-home dad. This comes after working only 6 and a half months at PG&E, as an IT Help Desk Analyst. I obtained the job while I was still studying IT at Heald College out here in Northern California. I loved the job, the pay was pretty good for an entry level position, and I actually enjoyed most of the people I work with. Not to mention, I was actually working in my field of study, that seems to be a rare thing these days. Everything at the job was looking good and they were setting me up to be promoted and work towards a life-long career. Pretty exciting stuff really.
          As things really started to gain momentum with the job, things were going great at home, and we were starting to get in to a rhythm again after our 2nd child joined our family.

My wonderful mother was watching the kids for us on Wednesdays, and we had a fantastic babysitter who came to the house on Thursdays and Fridays. Well, my mother soon realized that watching two kids all day every Wednesday was not as easy as it was when my siblings and I were all little. Age has a funny way of making some things much more physically difficult. The truth is, my wife and I never really wanted our parents to be babysitters anyway, we really wanted them to be able to be "Grandparents" and be able to enjoy purely spoiling their grand babies. 

          Now, let me be perfectly clear, my amazing mother not once asked us to relieve her, but I know my mom and I love her dearly. I did not want my kids to feel like a burden to her, whether they already did or not, things were heading that way. So, Jess (my wife) and I started discussing alternatives. Let me tell you now, there weren't very many truly viable options.

          What we were looking at was; 1. putting both kids in daycare, 2. paying our babysitter for a third day, or 3. me becoming a stay at home dad. Now, by the very nature of this blog and the preface here, you know which choice we went with. Option 1 was not really an option either of us were comfortable with, because the boy is only 5 months old. Option 2 was just too expensive, leaving only $200 a month out of my paycheck, which then gets spent on gas and vehicle maintenance.

          So here we are, living option 3, and I'm staying home with my kiddos from now on. I'm very excited about this in reality, even though I'm pretty nervous at the same time. I stayed home for the first 2 years of my daughters life, being a full time student at the same time. But, I'm now watching 2 kids, which any parent of more than one child knows, it's a lot more than just double the work. So I'm starting this blog more as a diary/journal for myself, but would love to have followers who want to join me on this journey. Stay tuned for more fun and Real-life adventures of Daddy.

-Shane