Mr. Mom

My husband and I switched roles temporarily for the first three weeks of June.  I had the privilege to run a science camp at his school in the morning.  He stayed home with our two youngest.  I’m pretty sure it was an eye-opening experience for us both.

He would come to pick us up each day and say, “I hope you didn’t want me to get a lot done.”  He discovered the frustration of trying to keep our house in order, especially with two kids needing his attention.  I’d come home, look around, and, feeling rather exhausted after chasing 4-12 –year-olds for four hours, declare, “It looks just fine to me.”

During the school year, he’s the one reminding me that the house doesn’t look so bad…for a family with three kids under the age of five.  And yet, I often feel frustrated that not all the chores on my list were crossed off.  Of course, I had usually spent the day playing with my kids instead of actually trying to clean the house.

And that was what he spent his time doing, too.  He’d wake up each morning with a list in mind of all he wanted to accomplish with his “free time.”  But he would soon discover that chasing our two littlest kiddos around was enough to keep him busy.

Today, I realized another lesson learned.  We’ve both learned to value the time we get to spend with our kids.

My husband is in summer mode now.  That means he’s busy with course work for his Masters’ degree, busy revamping one course or another for the next school year, busy trying to get caught up on all the house projects that were on the back burner during the school year.  And yet, he’s been much more willing to stop what he’s doing to play with our two oldest, change a diaper, find a snack, or join us on a trip to the park.

This week our two oldest are attending Summer Bible Camp at our church.  So, the mornings have given me time to spend with our baby.  And I really enjoyed lying on the floor with him, watching him discover the world around him.  I’ve realized, too, how much I missed spending the morning with my daughter during Science Camp.  She has such a sunny, helpful personality.  I’ve come home to all sorts of art projects she and her dad have made.

One of the best parts of Science Camp for me has been watching our oldest learn and interact with other students.  He’s been soaking up all the science he can handle—and sharing it with us all back at home.  The other day, he pulled me over to our CD player, opened the door and showed me the simple machine inside—gears!  (It’s good for my teacher-ego to realize that my students were actually learning something from Science Camp.)  It’s such a blessing to watch him explore God’s creation and see him grow.

And now that Science Camp is done, I get to go back to my normal job.  But, don’t think I’m returning to the same-old, same-old.  I’ve got a fresh set of eyes looking at my situation.  I see how richly God has blessed us to let me be able to stay home with my kiddos.  I’m much less jealous of the time my husband spends working because I know he’s working as fast and as hard as he can so he can spend time with his family.  And, I’m refreshed and ready to get back to the job of raising my family…even if it means a dirty house.