Daddy Duty

In a few short – very short – days, I will be returning to work and handing over the reigns, the control and what passes for the schedule to the father of my child. After one year of maternity leave [god, or whomever, bless the Canadian system], my husband is chomping at the bit for his entitled thirty-seven weeks off to spend with our daughter.

And while I know, in my head, that he’ll do fine – more than fine – that my little girl will be well fed, be read to, played with and spoiled rotten, I’m not sure that the rest of me quite believes it yet. I have just spent the past year in 24/7 mommy, never mind the previous 9 months involvement: how can someone else step into that?

My husband has, though, been planning this time with his child since he convinced me way back in 2004 that it really was a good time to start trying to have a baby. He probably has a litany of activities lined up as well as stories and songs that he has been perfecting over the last twelve months. I will not be surprised if, by the time Father’s Day coincidentally rolls around, my little girl will look at me with an expression of only vague remembrance and I will be relegated to boobs and bathing only. And answering panicked phone calls to recall where the soothers, boots and coats are stored. [it’s already happened…]

While, yes, part of that is my fear of returning to work – something that I otherwise am looking very much forward to – part of that is simply the fact that my husband is an amazing father. He has been right in there since day one and has wanted to be. Diapers, dishes, upset tummies – he’s done them all. No hesitation and only the occasional question. I know that, as far as he is concerned, his Father’s Day will be perfect because he gets this time to be a stay at home dad, but I’m going to have to make sure he knows how much that’s appreciated – by both of us.

Maybe I’ll have GPS locators installed on all the soothers.

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Jenn is mom to the Magpie and wife to Mr.Q – both of whom receive frequent mention on Quarter Rest. She is appearing here today thanks to Janet’s benevolence and as part of the Blog Exchange – be sure to stop by Quarter Rest and read Janet’s post on fatherhood!