I recently changed jobs and had around 10 days before starting at Koru Kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, well at least you\u2019ve got some time off before you start,\u201d said everyone who asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d I replied, \u201cand I\u2019ve got the kids for a week too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It turns out having the kids for a week isn\u2019t \u201ctime off\u201d at all. In fact, I worked harder in that week than most of the last three years (and bear in mind my previous company was a hyper-growth startup, so hardly a 9-to-5 kinda place).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To give you some context, we\u2019ve got two gorgeous little boys: our eldest is two (and a half, he\u2019ll remind you), and our youngest is a little over 10 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My wife is a secondary school English teacher, and has just returned to work after maternity leave. She was going back part-time, but her first week back included teacher training days, so it was more like full-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, what with my temporary unemployment, we thought it made sense to push childcare back by a week and for me to take the kids instead, thereby also saving a few quid on childcare.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t normally write blog posts, but I\u2019ve found this experience so insightful I thought it would be worthwhile sharing. Especially for the Dads out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are the top 5 things I learned:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. My kids rock<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The rest of this post talks about some of the challenges I faced. And I hear a lot of dads (and mums too, albeit less frequently) thinking they sound cool by badmouthing their kids. But I wanted to start by saying how awesome my kids are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They are fun, smart, cute, and at times utterly hilarious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s sometimes frightening to think that they see me as their fountain of knowledge, given how little I actually know about the world. But at the same time it\u2019s pretty rewarding to hear my eldest singing himself to sleep to the lyrics of Queen\u2019s Bohemian Rhapsody. Yeah, I taught him that. All 5 minutes and 55 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the way, it\u2019s not like I never spend time with them and I\u2019ve only just realised I like my kids. I spend a lot of time with them, and regularly have sole care of both of them together. Just not for full days and for an entire week where I get to see all the little things going on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. It really is a proper job<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I now understand better why my wife tells me that looking after the kids continuously is a full-time job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Firstly, it\u2019s really hard work. Looking after the kids all day, every day is physically exhausting. Once they are up, they are\u00a0up<\/em><\/strong>. It\u2019s very different to an office environment, which is much more mentally tiring. I found at the end of each day my back and arms in particular were pretty strained from all the bending and picking up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Secondly, there\u2019s just so much to do. For example, feeding them. Sounds easy right? Sure, for one day. But 5 days in a row? Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Don\u2019t forget snacks twice a day. Especially when you\u2019ve been a smug git for the past two and half years espousing how your kids only eat proper, healthy, home-cooked food. Which your wife made for them\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Feeling slightly overwhelmed, I enlisted my wife to help me plan out all of the meals for the week. I set myself diary reminders each day to remember what to take out of the freezer (prior batch cooking, a godsend) or what ingredients I needed to pick up. Then I had to actually cook their food during their lunchtime sleep time, my supposed downtime during the day. And that\u2019s before I even considered feeding myself or cooking dinner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n