Bachelor Dad: Conclusions

Well, we picked up Mandy last night late and everything returned to normal. The boys were excited to have her back and I was both relieved and excited. She is now in the deprogramming process and readjusting.

Here are some final observations:

• I over prepared myself for the boys to have major behavioral issues. They were actually normal. Eli is still in his “whine about everything” stage and Jake was a rock star, he was very mature and helpful the whole time.
• I expected to be physically exhausted and if it weren’t for me being sick, I would not be. Instead, I am mentally and emotionally burnt out… which is great because I have a ton of work to catch up on.
• Overall, my biggest fears never came true and and my expectations that mirrored Daddy Day Care were not met.
• I felt a lot of support from my family and friends, that helped.
• If I had to do it again (I’m sure I will), I will try to keep the routine as normal as possible much like this time. Kids love routines, especially MY kids.
• I expected to play a lot of Playstation 3 during this thing, and with exception of playing a rivalry series with my brother-in-law, I never even turned it on.
• Working from home is an impossibility for me. It just is.
• Photo Booth and Text-to-Speech are two awesome features of the Mac that can keep small children occupied for days.

I learned a lot about myself during this experiment. I learned that my limits are further than I knew. I learned that my kids aren’t as rowdy in public as I thought. I learned that when they want to be, my kids can be the spawn of Satan in public. I learned that my boys genuinely love me and want to hang out with me and I feel the same about them. I learned what it must feel like to be my wife, both working, keeping a house straight, and being a mom… its not easy.

I like learning things and I did… but I am glad its over. Thanks for reading along!