Daddy

Not every man in America has the opportunity to be a stay-at-home dad while his wife brings home the bacon. “Slacker,” you say? “Loafer,” you might think? Just the opposite, in fact.
My wife Kristen is an all-around amazing, on-the-go, in-your-face, go-get ‘em woman. We have been married for three years, during which she has graduated from college and landed a great full-time job as the Marketing Specialist for Utah State University’s Distance Education. Shortly after landing said job, however, we found out that she was pregnant with our soon-to-be first child.
After an arduous nine months of pregnancy, Kristen took eight weeks of maternity leave and spent the time home with our beautiful baby boy, Josh. During this time, we moved to Ephraim, Utah, a small town where I could complete my student teaching and hopefully find employment. We always knew that Kristen would have to go back to work because she had the insurance. It was a tough choice—stay home with the baby, or go back to work and be the provider while I finish up school—but she knew that with our financial situation, she had better be the one to make ends meet.
Which left me at home with Josh. What an amazing summer we had together. I dressed him, changed dirty diapers, took him on walks, watched him as he napped—all of the things that we men hardly ever get to do during the day. And I couldn’t be happier. We formed a bond that will never be broken, and when he is older, he will know that he had a dad who was willing to be the mom.
Now that school has started, he is at the babysitters, and I don’t get to be with him 24/7 like I had, but no matter—when I pick him up, his four-month old face lights up with the biggest brightest smile you’ll ever see, and I know that he knows his daddy.