The Domestic Dad

My last day of the clerkship in DC was August 11. My first day of work at the law firm is September 12. After two weeks on the road and another living with relatives and looking for an apartment, I can safely say that I am going stir crazy. I have never had such a long vacation and I don't think I like it. Don't get me wrong. I love the time with kids. I love seeing everything that I would otherwise miss at work, especially our girls greeting my son with hugs when he gets home from school. I get a little jealous of him actually. The kids used to do that for me when I came home from work. But I can't complain. They still give me lots of hugs. I've already written of my judge's theory that you need to build a fire to keep you warm when you can. I think that is what I am doing. I take advantage of every opportunity I can to be with and play with the kids. I am fortunate though. Many fathers are out of work right now, even in the law profession. But I am a little jealous of them too. I read that many of them are working hard at home landscaping, making repairs, upgrading, and performing the work that they might otherwise pay someone else to do while they were at work. But there are three big differences between me and them. First, this is not my house. Second, it is over 100 degrees outside and a record-breaking hot summer. Third, I have zero handyman skills. I have helped my father-in-law build a fence--one of my proudest moments was redesigning the gate with the pieces he'd mistakenly cut the wrong size. One the other hand, when my parents built an apartment in the basement for me and my wife when we were newly weds, he and my brother did all the work. Anyhow, I have attempted to keep myself feeling accomplished by honing my skills as a dishwasher, toy picker upper, and a child bather. I still stink at shopping and hold not even an ounce of confidence with my wife in that regard--I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing since she never asks me to go shopping. Instead of the corporate dad, I have been strictly a domestic dad. But, there are many lessons to be learned there as well, such as never discount the work and feelings of the stay-at-home parent. Not only do I understand my wife better, but I am a stay-at-home parent right now.