Accidental House Life

There are some mornings when you wake up full of zeal, with a sense of purpose and an appetite for life. Your head is clear, there's a spring in your step and everything seems do-able. The morning jobs are done in a flash, dish washer emptied, new load of washing in, pack lunches made, kids at school, the lounge is tidied of the morning frenzy at it's still only 9.30. You have a cuppa (that's a cup of tea to the non-Brits out there), write the shopping list and crack on. By lunchtime you've prepared for the evening meal, hung the clean washing and completed that days housework list. You're ready for the kids to finish school, for the wife to return from work and for whatever the evening may throw at you. By bed time you rightly chalk the day down as one of the good ones, job well done, pat on the back, house husband of the year. There are some mornings like that, but just some. And I for one am very grateful that they are few and far between. Why, oh dear reader, ...

You invariably reach a stage where you want to burn your house down. Seriously. 8 years and counting, in the house more than out of it, your best friend is a radio/facebook/google+, and you actually get excited when the door bell goes. Your routine is so repetitive it's as automatic as it is tedious. You barely notice your kids are growing and are surprised when they need new shoes and clothes. Silence is the enemy and resentment grows when anyone else is around. Your domain is your castle and even family members begin to feel like the enemy encroaching upon your drawbridge. Depressing isn't it? But wait, there's more. The kitchen you once loved is no longer big enough, the house you were once so proud of is no longer recognisable, there's no storage room left. For anything. Honestly I've begun to throw things away now without looking at what it is just so I have somewhere to store something else that I'm not quite sure of it's use (obviously only my stuff...

On those mornings when nothing goes according to plan it is sometimes hard to remember the answer to this simple question,why? Why do I do this? Why doesn't anyone listen to me? Why is it I'm the only one who seems bothered/upset/angry by the situation? Why oh why oh why? Now, as I have said countless times, I am married to my perfect partner (perfect for me, not you, back away, further, further.....thank you) without whom none of anything in Castle accidentalhouselife would be possible. The adverse effect of this is when it is going wrong, it goes wrong for everyone. Let me paint a picture. It's 6.30am, for once neither child 1 or child 2 are awake. Unknown to the wife and I the alarm clock no longer works. We are now 30 minutes behind schedule and the wife begins to stress. The commute to work is a long one and departure time is crucial. Stress turns to panic, panic to anger and the anger gets directed to me (as I said perfect for me, not you). As we then cascade down t...

No Experience Necessary It's been a long time since the last post but please forgive me I've been trying to find a job. After the postulation of previous posts the decision was reached, as well as bank overdrafts and credit card limits, that the stay at home dad should become a work dad. Hooray goes the bank balance, hooray goes my sanity, hooray goes the ......., but wait a minute, we've hit a snag. Not a small snag, not a "this requires a bit of effort" snag, but a massive, slap in your face, I didn't see that coming snag. Don't worry this isn't a repost over earnings but rather a new post about jobs that are available for this remarkable large group known as return to work parents (it used to be return to work mums but, hey, I'm a trend setter). There are the normal problems that we who are returning to the workforce expect, such as child care costs, after school activities (and costs), holiday clubs (costs), finding something that loosely f...