Hello, my name is [REDACTED], and I'm your atypical stay-at-home dad. I cook meals every day of the week, I take care of paperwork and expenses, and I clean the mess of two irritatingly adorable daughters. Life's never dull, but every so often I think back to the criticisms levied upon me by the people I held closest.
"Why would you waste your chance at a career for housework? How lazy can you be?"
"What are you doing a woman's job for? You're a disgrace to men everywhere!"
"Why are you spending your life just cleaning somebody else's messes? Sounds unfulfilling to me."
At the time, these words really hit me like a truck. Because I didn't take the beaten path to success, I was shunned by the people I love and even most of society. Why was I really doing this? Am I lazy like they said? Am I emasculated for wanting to take care of a home? Is what I'm doing just a soulless job that needed doing? Is this all that I'm worth? Why am I doing this to myself?
"I'm home, [REDACTED]."
Ah, that's why.
I wait eagerly to hear those words every day. I cook, clean, and take care of business because I want everything to be the best it can possibly be whenever she comes home. The sense of pride that comes with serving her and my kids' food and expressing their enjoyment. Watching her able to relax after a long day when she sees that she's not needed for anything. I work every day for her to be able to call this her home confidently. She is the reason that I can put my soul into this every day.
This is her home, and she is mine.
