Where did the therapy go?

I think it is becoming clear that this blog has evolved into a place for me to write about family, both in general and my family in particular. It's not that therapy is not a part of my life anymore. I just haven't had much to say about it. For one thing, I only see clients on Mondays, and as I'm probably going to be leaving in August, my client load is beginning to dwindle anyway. Essentially, my life right now primarily involves taking care of my 2 kids four days a week. I'm still working on my dissertation and searching for a job when I can, but the say-home-dad gig has definitely moved to the forefront. I suspect that as a reengage in therapy (hopefully in a new job beginning in August), I'll have more things to write along clinical and therapeutic lines.

In the meantime, though, I think this blog might be a good place to write about my experiences as a stay-home dad. It's not terribly exciting, to say the least, but I think there are kind a few nuggets of wisdom that I am gaining that I could pass on. If nothing else, I'm sure my mom, my mother-in-law, and other family members will enjoy reading about the kids.

First, for those of you who aren't very well-acquainted with my children, this is my two-year-old son, Aidan:



And this is my two-month-old daughter, Regan:



They are both very sweet kids, even if they don't always cooperate with what I want to do. I stay home with them four days a week so that we don't have to spend the money on childcare. Kari uses a vacation day every Monday to stay home with them. I am going back to work part-time, though, in a couple of weeks. Obviously, this arrangement is not very conducive to writing a dissertation proposal, so we're going to hire a college student to stay with them from noon until 5:30 three afternoons a week. This would have been necessary in July anyway because I will be teaching a class on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and I would need the time to prepare, in addition to the Mondays when I see my clients. Also, Kari's work load will really pick up in July, so she wouldn't have been able to stay home on Mondays anyway.

So that's the situation. So far, I'm in my third week of doing this, and it's gone pretty well. We have our routine, which is absolutely necessary with kids this age, and we all know generally what to expect. All Aidan cares about is playing at the playground and swimming at the MAC. Regan, though, is eating a TON. She must be having a growth spurt. We'll see how big she's gotten tomorrow at her 2-month check-up.