Kevin is working double-duty now that there are two crazy little girls at home. Over maternity leave last month, I started getting a little insight into what his life must be like. I decide to interview him on what it is like being a stay-at-home dad!
What do you love most about being a stay-at-home dad?
The thing I love most about being a stay at home dad is all the time I get to spend with the girls and how I have been able to see them grow up every step of the way. I really have enjoyed spending time with Lorelai reading, playing with toys, watching movies, and taking her to experience new things. Its still early, but I am sure I will love it with Pepper too.
Why did you choose to be a stay at home dad?
I wouldn't say I chose to completely, I was more than willing to. I didn't particular like my job before Lorelai, however, it was more that it made the most sense. I was working a retail job, and Kitty had just been hired at her current job which included a salary we could live on and benefits. Before that, we had really been relying on the health insurance benefits my job offered. I really loved the option to stay at home with Lorelai, rather than spending a lot of my paycheck on daycare.
What do you dislike most?
Probably the repetitiveness of the job, most days are very much the same unless we make a conscious effort to go out to the zoo or something. That would also be my complaint with any job probably!
What does a day look like for you?
6:45/7:00 Morning routine of waking up, make coffee (very important step), get the kids up.
We love going to the zoo and we have a membership, so we go pretty often. If you're not from Omaha, you may not know that Omaha has an amazing zoo (often ranked the best zoo in the country) Lorelai absolutely loves animals, so she gets so excited to go. In the spring an fall its a great time to go while older kids are in school, and we basically have the zoo to ourselves.
Will you go back to work when the kids are in school?
Kitty and I really have no idea what things will look like in a few years. With the freelance design work and videography business we've been building, I may continue to freelance from home...who knows!
What skills do you think are essential to being a stay-at-home dad?
My art degree has certainly come in handy with all the of the requests Lorelai makes for me to draw animals (with crayons, chalk or bathtub crayons) or make sculptures of playdough out of her favorite cartoon characters! It takes a lot of patience and humor as well!
What do you love most about being a stay-at-home dad?
The thing I love most about being a stay at home dad is all the time I get to spend with the girls and how I have been able to see them grow up every step of the way. I really have enjoyed spending time with Lorelai reading, playing with toys, watching movies, and taking her to experience new things. Its still early, but I am sure I will love it with Pepper too.
Why did you choose to be a stay at home dad?
I wouldn't say I chose to completely, I was more than willing to. I didn't particular like my job before Lorelai, however, it was more that it made the most sense. I was working a retail job, and Kitty had just been hired at her current job which included a salary we could live on and benefits. Before that, we had really been relying on the health insurance benefits my job offered. I really loved the option to stay at home with Lorelai, rather than spending a lot of my paycheck on daycare.
What do you dislike most?
Probably the repetitiveness of the job, most days are very much the same unless we make a conscious effort to go out to the zoo or something. That would also be my complaint with any job probably!
What does a day look like for you?
6:45/7:00 Morning routine of waking up, make coffee (very important step), get the kids up.
7:30 MakeLorelai breakfast, feed Pepper and play since mornings are her best times.
7:45/8 Pepper takes a nap, Lorelai continues to slowly pick at her food (Slowest eater ever)
8:30-10:00 Lorelai finally finishes breakfast so she plays around the house and asks me to read to her every 5-10 minutes. If we get out, this is usually the time we get out of the house...we usually stay out until at least noon (because once you've gotten everyone packed up you may as well stay out!)
10-11:00 give Lorelai gets a snack and Pepper wakes up to eat (lots of eating at our house).
11:00 try to entertain 2 kids at once until pepper goes down for another nap
12:00 Make Lorelai lunch which she usually refuses to eat and try to do dishes while she eats.
12:30-12:45 get Lorelai ready for her nap and read to her.
1:00 both kids are finally down at once, This is when I catch up on any design work I have, clean the house, or shower.
1:30 Pepper wakes up, feed her, play with her and put her back down by 2:30
2:30-4 more free time to get stuff done, like catch up on my design clients
4:00 Kitty gets home and we wake up Lorelai up from her nap if she hasn't already woken up.
4:00-7:00 is family time and dinner. We haven't established family dinners yet, so its usually eating on the go or while doing other things. We may go to the library, play outside, run errands together, etc. If we are out Lorelai gets dinner in the car because she eats much better when not distracted.
7:00 Pepper goes to bed
7:30/45 Lorelai gets ready for bed and we go through the bedtime routine, which just keeps getting longer as she requests more and more books.
8:00 Both kids are asleep. Kitty and I spend time together, clean the house, catch-up on work, and go to bed pretty early (usually around 9:30).
Do you think expectations are different for you than a stay at home mom?
I think people view stay at home dads differently than stay at home moms. I feel like I am always being judged for being a stay at home dad, like I am not good enough to make it in the real world so this is me just staying at home because I am lazy. I don't know if that is true at all but that's how I feel people view it. When in reality I am using my college degree more now than I ever did with a full time job. By having the time to stay home with the kids, I have been able to get into more freelance design work than ever before. Even with as far as we've come, I still see how society thinks a woman staying home with kids is "normal" where a man staying home makes people question what is wrong with that choice. I do feel like women are always more impressed with my decision to stay home than men are. When I tell someone I am a stay-at-home dad I seem to get a lot of "Oh good for you!" from women. If I tell a man I'm a stay-at-home dad, I get a short response like "Oh, okay" or "Oh, cool." and it seems like the conversation just dies.
Do you think you and Kitty will ever switch places?
Easy...No. That's not to say I will never go back to work, rather Kitty would never stay at home. She enjoys working outside the home way too much
What is your favorite activity to do with the kids?
Do you think expectations are different for you than a stay at home mom?
I think people view stay at home dads differently than stay at home moms. I feel like I am always being judged for being a stay at home dad, like I am not good enough to make it in the real world so this is me just staying at home because I am lazy. I don't know if that is true at all but that's how I feel people view it. When in reality I am using my college degree more now than I ever did with a full time job. By having the time to stay home with the kids, I have been able to get into more freelance design work than ever before. Even with as far as we've come, I still see how society thinks a woman staying home with kids is "normal" where a man staying home makes people question what is wrong with that choice. I do feel like women are always more impressed with my decision to stay home than men are. When I tell someone I am a stay-at-home dad I seem to get a lot of "Oh good for you!" from women. If I tell a man I'm a stay-at-home dad, I get a short response like "Oh, okay" or "Oh, cool." and it seems like the conversation just dies.
Do you think you and Kitty will ever switch places?
Easy...No. That's not to say I will never go back to work, rather Kitty would never stay at home. She enjoys working outside the home way too much
What is your favorite activity to do with the kids?
We love going to the zoo and we have a membership, so we go pretty often. If you're not from Omaha, you may not know that Omaha has an amazing zoo (often ranked the best zoo in the country) Lorelai absolutely loves animals, so she gets so excited to go. In the spring an fall its a great time to go while older kids are in school, and we basically have the zoo to ourselves.
Will you go back to work when the kids are in school?
Kitty and I really have no idea what things will look like in a few years. With the freelance design work and videography business we've been building, I may continue to freelance from home...who knows!
What skills do you think are essential to being a stay-at-home dad?
My art degree has certainly come in handy with all the of the requests Lorelai makes for me to draw animals (with crayons, chalk or bathtub crayons) or make sculptures of playdough out of her favorite cartoon characters! It takes a lot of patience and humor as well!
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