At Home Father

Evian Roller Babies

2009-07-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

Not sure why I found this entertaining, but I kinda did.

Househusbands of Hollywood on Fox Reality

2009-07-09T20:53:00.000-07:00

This is just scary.

Got an email today announcing the new Fox Reality series coming in August. Househusbands of Hollywood:

Fox Reality Channel’s newest original series, Househusbands of Hollywood follows the lives of five men and their high-powered, successful wives. The men live under a different set of circumstances, but they all have one thing in common: their wives are bringing home the bacon. King of the castle…ruler of the roost…until his wife comes home from work.
Premieres Saturday, August 15 at 9p/8c

I'm sure it's a lot like my usual day. I'm sure they will do the Stay-At-Home-Dad community proud.

Actually, I'll withhold judgement until the show is on the air.

Frightening. Just frightening.

Stay-At-Home-Fatherhood On The Rise (video)

2009-07-08T09:41:00.001-07:00

Here's the video for the news story that Nate and I participated in.

Enjoy!

Stay-at-Home Fatherhood On the Rise from TommyG Productions on Vimeo.

The text of the story follows:

You could call Brian Berliner a lucky guy. Now, I am sure there are many reasons for that, but the one we're talking about is this.

Berliner's decision to become a stay at home dad for newborn son Nate was voluntary.

"We had the opportunity so we decided to go ahead and take it," says Berliner.

It just made sense, Berliner says, for his family at this time...For his wife to continue working...And for him to stay at home.

And that makes him lucky...Because for many men these days, staying home isn't a choice. It's called being laid off.

Jeremy Smith has just written a book about the stay at home dad phenomenon.

"You lose a job and you are losing income and your family's existence is threatened in a very direct way," says Smith.

He says it is something that has been building for years, but this economy has put things in overdrive.

Male dominated industries like cars and construction have been among the hardest hit.

82 percent of all layoffs have been men. Forcing many of them into a role they never dreamed of.

"They go through a battle. A psychological battle with themselves and sometimes the people around them, and that's really tough stuff," Smith says.

But Smith says society has done them a favor.

It is more accepting now of men staying home with children than ever before.

"And that just means when a father loses his job, society still says to him you are still valuable to your family and you still have a role to play and this is a strength that many fathers are bringing to this economic crisis," says Smith.

And here is what's really interesting. This change in roles may be permanent. It may not end when this recession ever does. Smith says it's like Rosie the Riveter. She symbolized all the women who joined the workforce during World War Two to fill the jobs left by men going off to fight. Well once the war ended did women stop working? Of course not. But while society may make it easier to be accepted as a stay at home dad, it doesn't make the job any easier.

"I thought it would be easier. Absolutely, yes," says Berliner.

Twenty years ago when Berliner had a daughter from a previous marriage...Neither he, nor society, seemed ready for stay at home dads.

But, it seems both have changed, lucky for him.

"I'm proud of all the guys that have come before and paved the way," says Berliner.

The Daddy Shift

2009-07-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here's the book that was featured along with the Stay-At-Home-Dad TV news story that Nate and I participated in last night. The author is Jeremy Adam Smith. The book: The Daddy Shift: How Stay-at-Home Dads, Breadwinning Moms, and Shared Parenting Are Transforming the American Family.

I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but please do add your comments below.

It's great that Stay-At-Home-Dads have a new and current resource like this available.

Nate & His At-Home-Father On TV

2009-07-04T07:43:00.000-07:00

The local NBC news station in the Bay Area, KNTV, ran a story last night on how the crumbling economy has affected more men than women, and one of the side-effects of that is the increase in Stay-At-Home-Dads. While I am a Stay-At-Home-Dad by choice and not by chance, I was lucky enough to be a featured father in the story!

And, Nate looked pretty darn cute on TV. He's only 5 months old and already is a local celebrity. If only he could sign an autograph for his fans...

Ace reporter Garvin Thomas did a nice job with the story.

I will post a link to YouTube as soon as I get it.

Parenting Is The Art Of Daily Survival

2009-04-30T19:17:00.001-07:00

Nate is 3 months old now. I’ve been an official full-time Stay-At-Home-Dad (SAHD) for 1 month now, since Amy went back to work full-time. Things have gone well, but have been pretty tough.

Week 1 of my SAHD time had me covering more of the night-time feedings. I learned that I have a very hard time getting back to sleep after spending an hour warming the bottle, soothing while the bottle warms, feeding, burping, changing, feeding/burping some more, and soothing the little man to sleep. I’m a night owl by nature, and once I get revved up at night, my brain goes on full throttle working on the world’s problems. The baby sleeps, but I don’t. Thankfully, my in-laws provided great support so that I could bring Nate over in the afternoon and grab a couple hours of sleep. Nice.

Week 2 I got sick. I learned that there is no such thing as a “sick day” when you are a stay-at-home parent. You suck it up and take care of the baby and family. My in-laws were out on vacation, so I didn’t have that extra support, which was very much missed. Two days after I got sick, Amy got sick. Two days after that, Nate got sick, and registered his first fever. That was a tough week.

Week 3 we took Nate to the pediatrician, even though he appeared to be feeling better. Turns out that his left ear had an ear infection and Nate needed antibiotics. Babies first infection. Something for the baby book! :-) The in-laws were still out of town and I was still sick, due to lack of rest. Another tough week, but Nate’s schedule got a bit better, and he started sleeping longer (one 5 hour shift each night), which helped significantly.

Week 4 has Nate finishing up his medicine, but still not quite back to normal. Still tugs on his ear occasionally, and we return to the pediatrician tomorrow. His sleep schedule has reverted back to only 3-4 hours between feedings, which is not so good for the parents. But the in-laws have returned and I got a wonderful 2.5-hour long nap in this week! In general, I get 4-5 hours of sleep each night.

It’s pretty hard to plan next week, next month, or next year currently.

As such, it’s all about surviving today, so that you can survive again tomorrow. One day at a time.

I’m sure things will get easier when Nate “sleeps through the night”. I’ll keep you informed!

Technorati Tags: Stay-At-Home-Dad,SAHD,Stay-At-Home-Father,Parenting,Babies,Sleep,Ear Infection,Illness

Pet Names For Our Baby

2009-04-17T11:14:00.001-07:00

Yes, it happened very quick and automatically.

We started calling Nate by names other than his own. Pet names. Some cute, some not so cute. Here’s a quick list, in no particular order:

Sweet Pea
Nater Mater
Nate The Great
Super Baby!
Super Duper!
Stinky
Mr. Spittlesworth
Boo Boo
Big Boy or just “Boy”
Little Man or “Little Guy”
Buddy or “Little Buddy” – I’m the Skipper
Stevie Wonder – when he’s tired and his head weaves back and forth
And, of course, “Baby”

I’ll be surprised if he ever figures out what his actual name is!

What other cute pet names do you use for your little one?

Update: New names from Nate at 7 months:

Additionally,

Mr. Potato Head
Super Boo
Captain Frustrato
"Shark!" (looking for things to grab)
Bootastic

Technorati Tags: Stay-At-Home-Dad,SAHD,Stay-At-Home-Father,SAHF,Nicknames,Baby Names,Baby,Naming,Pet Names

It’s Not a “Pacifier”, It’s a “Soother”

2009-04-13T07:11:00.001-07:00

Amy, Nate, and I met up with some Canadian friends a couple of weeks ago, and when we pulled out the pacifier to give to Nate, our friends responded that getting your baby used to a “soother” is a wonderful thing.

I had never heard a “pacifier” referred to as a “soother” before. Upon thinking about it for a moment, I really liked the term.

One definition of the term “pacify” is “to reduce to a state of submission, esp. by military force; subdue”. There’s a forced aspect that sticks in my mind when I hear “pacify”. I suppose that’s somewhat accurate for our use of the pacifier on Nate, but I don’t want to feel that way. I’d rather feel that Nate was self-soothing.

Hence, the term “soother”, I suppose.

Turns out that “soother” is a common term for a pacifier in Canada.

In the UK, they use the term “dummy”.

Being American (or “Southern Canadian” as I sometimes prefer to think), I much prefer “soother” to either “pacifier” or “dummy”, or some of the other US English slang terms, like “binky” or “nukky” or “nuk-nuk”.

So, that’s what we are calling it from now on.

The soother.

It just sounds more tranquil and less forceful to me.

We have told the story of the term to many of our American friends, and none of them had heard the word “soother” either. Perhaps we can start a new trend.

Soothers for all!

Soothers unite!

What do you call your pacifier?

Technorati Tags: Stay-At-Home-Dad,SAHD,Stay-At-Home-Father,Pacifier,Soother,Nukky,Nuk-Nuk,Dictionary,Definition,Slang,Parenting,Baby,Infant

The Baby Björn Man-Baby Commercial

2009-04-07T00:19:00.001-07:00

I currently carry my son, Nate, for at least three hours a day in his Baby Björn. We love it! Well, he loves it and my aching back tolerates it (and this is with the lumbar support version – he’s about 14 pounds now).

So, when I saw this commercial, I loved it as well.

Enjoy.

Man Baby, UNwrong'D - Boost Mobile TV Commercial:

Technorati Tags: Stay-At-Home-Dad,SAHD,Dad,Father,Commercial,Boost Mobile,Baby Björn,Björn,Commedy,Parenting

Tomorrow I Officially Start My New Job – Full Time Stay-At-Home-Dad

2009-04-05T22:21:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow, my wife, Amy, goes back to work, completing her maternity leave. Nate and I have been very lucky to have her home with us over these past 10 weeks – and we will miss her dearly. I’ve never spent this much devoted (and intense!) time with her before because we have always been working independently. And, I must say, that I love her even more for both growing and delivering a perfect baby boy, and also for experiencing every detail of Nate’s new world with me during her maternity leave. She’s amazing.

While I have been at home pretty much full-time over these first weeks of Nate’s life, I haven’t really considered myself a true “Stay-At-Home-Dad”. I guess, mainly because Amy and I have been double-teaming Nate constantly. Nate has always seen two parent’s faces. Amy has taken most of the night shifts (because she is breastfeeding), and I take most of the “morning to early afternoon” shifts, to let her catch up on sleep.

However, starting tomorrow, it’s all up to me as we transition to me taking (more of) the night shift and, naturally, all of the day shift while Amy is at work.

And, yeah. Right now, I’m not exactly sure how I will pull it off, even though I secretly know that I will be fine.

Even though Amy and I have been double-teaming him, the last 10 weeks have still been extremely difficult and exhausting (due mostly to lack of sleep). Now, with Amy gone back to work I do fully expect things to be harder for me. I also hope that Nate and I will form some new routines that will make it all work somehow. I look forward to working it out with him.

Things will also be harder on Amy, too.

We continue to breastfeed, so Amy is lugging the pump and gazillion accessories to work tomorrow. And dealing with all the ramifications of that in the workplace (packaging the milk, cleaning the parts, bringing a change of clothes just in case, finding privacy, etc) and transporting the goods home safely.

Amy will certainly miss her new boy while she is at work, and this first week will be a very tough transition for her. Role reversal is tough, but in the end, I know that we will both end up stronger and better people for doing it and making it work well for our little man.

My Stay-At-Home-Dad status is a conscious decision for us.

And it all starts now.

For real.

I am very excited. I truly do believe that this is the most important job that I have ever had. I’m super proud to be a Stay-At-Home-Father!

So, I better get to bed.

Encouraging words for Amy (and I) certainly welcome in the comments!

Technorati Tags: Stay-At-Home-Dad,Stay-At-Home-Father,SAHD,Parenting,Role Reversal,Maternity,Maternity Leave,Breastfeeding,Dad,Father

Trading in the Porsche for a Minivan

2009-03-20T21:25:00.001-07:00

Nothing says “Welcome to Parenthood” as the moment you sell your 2-seater Porsche Boxster Convertible:

And immediately replace it with an 8-seater Honda Odyssey Minivan:

That moment happened today for me.

I know the baby will be much safer than if he was riding around in the passenger seat of the Porsche Boxster Convertible! And, the Honda is actually pretty fun to drive, too. Not a convertible, but it does have a moonroof. A “Parental Convertible”, if you will…

Technorati Tags: SAHD,Stay At Home Dad,SAHF,Stay At Home Father,Dads,Fathers,Parenthood,Cars,Automobiles,Porsche,Boxster,Honda,Odyssey

Dad Resources: The Silicon Valley Stay-At-Home-Dads Group

2009-03-18T21:45:00.001-07:00

This week I attended my very first meeting of the Silicon Valley Dad’s Group for Stay-At-Home-Dads. It was a monthly “Dad’s Night Out” get-together just for the dads. We spent three hours having beers, dinner, and playing Bocce at the Los Gatos Campo di Bocce facility.

The meetup was attended by about a dozen Stay-At-Home Dads from the Bay Area Peninsula and South Bay Areas.

My son, Nate, was the youngest child of the group, at 8 weeks of age, but not by much. Another "Brian” of the group had an 11 week old boy, so it was great to compare notes.

The group had dads with lots of Stay-At-Home-Dad experience, so it will be a great resource to use as I move forward with my full-time dad status, which starts very soon when my wife, Amy, heads back to work.

So, if you are in the Bay Area, I encourage you to join the Yahoo Group and attend the next Dad’s Night Out or Park Playgroup outing.

Highly recommended!

Technorati Tags: Silicon Valley Dads Group,Dads,Fathers,Stay At Home Dad,SAHD,Stay At Home Father,SAHF,Bocce

Dadvice: Dad Advice on Getting Sleep During Baby’s First Month

2009-03-05T11:40:00.001-08:00

For the first month after our son, Nate, was born, Amy and I were mostly on our own. We were very fortunate that we both were able to dedicate ourselves to our new baby – my being a Stay At Home Dad, and Amy taking time off from work for maternity leave.

Still, that first month was, without a doubt, the hardest, most exhausting month of my life. I’ve started numerous businesses, but this “human startup” was clearly the most demanding of our time and attention – around the clock!

The thing that did us in was the sleep exhaustion. The boy needs to eat every 2.5-3 hours, and feeding, burping, playing, changing, bathing, soothing consume at least 1of those hours, so Mom and Dad only get 1.5-2 hours to feed, bathe, and rest themselves in between, in preparation for the next feeding “shift”, as we like to call them. The end result is that Mom never slept for more than about 1.5 hours at a time for the first month – until we introduced the bottle and pacifiers (after the first month; more on that later).

Tough times.

Everyone tells us that this is just the way it is at the start – that the baby will “sleep through the night” at some point. I know it’s true, but still secretly wish that it would happen sooner.

I do have some advice for Dads:

Don’t start things off in a sleep-deprived mode. Dads, for you, that means that you should NOT stay in the hospital with your wife overnight. Instead, take the opportunity to get a good night’s sleep so that you are fresh, because your wife will not get much sleep in the hospital. Teamwork. I listened to my wife on the last night of our hospital stay and “slept” at the hospital on the fold0out bed. I got exactly 1 hour of sleep, and it wrecked me for the first couple of days at home, which were hard enough. Take care of yourself so that you can take care of the family.
“Sleep when the baby sleeps” is pure bullshit. Complete exhaustion does help you take a nap easier, but there is no way that you will be able to sleep whenever the baby sleeps. Again, teamwork is important here. If you are breastfeeding, let Mom handle things on her own during the middle of the night feedings. Dad will be better able to take care of his wife and family during the day if he, too, is not completely exhausted.
Know thyself. I have never been a good napper. I would rather be up and awake and doing things. The baby has made me into a napper, and I can now sense when my body is telling me that it is time for a nap. I’ve always been able to push through that sensation in the past, but the penalty for doing so now is so big that I don’t do that any more. When my body starts to quiver, it’s time for a nap, and I take one. The world continues to revolve while I sleep. Yes, it really does.
Invest in a good quality set of earplugs and sleeping mask. Your wife can use them while you take care of the baby, and you can do the same when she’s on duty. They definitely help when trying to nap in the middle of the day. Also, consider adding room darkening shades to one of your bedrooms to make a little “nap sanctuary” environment.

The bottom line: You should try very hard to not get to the point where both husband and wife are completely exhausted. When that happens with Amy and I, we find that we are very “short” with each other and neither of us are thinking well or communicating well. If your wife is breastfeeding, that first month will be extremely hard on her and she absolutely will be exhausted. As such, do whatever you can to make sure that you don’t get exhausted too. That’s when bad things happen.

Teamwork.

What suggestions do you have for managing sleep exhaustion during that first month?

Technorati Tags: SAHD,Stay At Home Dad,Stay At Home Father,Sleep,Exhaustion,Advice,Baby,Newborn,Sleep Deprivation

Elective Cesarean

2009-03-01T00:22:00.001-08:00

The birth of our son, Nate, last month was the result of a cesarean delivery. It wasn’t planned that way, but after a 19-hour labor, the stubborn little tyke refused to drop and had to be delivered the new-fashioned way. Thank goodness!

As such, if we are fortunate enough to have another baby, it will most likely have to be delivered by cesarean as well. We asked the nurses at our hospital if anyone ever has a VBAC delivery there, and the answer was a very emphatic “No”, for a variety of reasons (like the need for

If you know that you will be having a planned cesarean section (C-section) delivery, you should definitely listen to the Pregtastic discussion of cesarean deliveries and the topic of “Elective Cesarean” as an option, even if it is not medically required for you. The podcast summary:

What constitutes an “elective” cesarean? Do the benefits outweigh the risks for mom and baby? “Wet lungs” and respiratory problems from cesareans. When is the earliest you should have an elective c-section? The importance of fetal development during the last 2 weeks of gestation, and possible breastfeeding complications from cesareans. Dr. Thomas Moore, Chair of Reproductive Medicine at University of California at San Diego is this week’s guest.

Dr. Moore does a really nice job explaining about the advantages and disadvantages of cesarean delivery. Highly recommended.

Technorati Tags: CSection,Cesarean,Childbirth,SAHD,SAHF,Pregtastic,Labor

My Son: Nathan Alexander Berliner

2009-02-28T20:29:00.001-08:00

I’d like to introduce you to my new son (my “first” son), born just one month ago. Here he was as a newborn:

Yeah. He’s super cute. And, here he is at one month of age:

Yeah. Still super cute. We call him “Nate”, unless he’s been really bad. Then we call him “Nathan Alexander”. He hasn’t been bad yet.

He’s doing very well. His health is excellent, breastfeeding well, and plumping up nicely.

Born at 6lb 15oz, he dropped to 6lb 8oz in the hospital and checked out on day 3 at 6lb 9oz. At our first pediatrician appointment on day 6 he was back up to 7lb 1oz and his next appointment (2.5 weeks old), he tipped the scales at 9lb 3oz. At 1 month he was a whopping 10lb 5oz. Just like his old man, the boy likes to eat!

Nate never sleeps more than 3 hours at a time, and usually only 2 hours, which means that Mom and Dad (especially Mom the self-described “Human Milk Wagon”) have not gotten our usual dose of sleep. And, at my advanced age, I do feel it.

Still, Nate is certainly a blessing and we’re all so happy to have him in our lives. I have dozens of articles sketched out to share with you. Now, if I can just find the time to write them up.

Please stay tuned and add some comments along the way. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Cheers,

-Brian

Technorati Tags: SAHD,SAHF,Stay At Home Dad,Stay At Home Father,Birth,Announcement,Baby,Newborn,Breastfeeding

No WMDs in Iraq, But My Son Has a WMU in His Diaper

2009-02-05T12:56:00.001-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

As I previously noted, my first child is a girl. My second child, just a couple weeks old, is a boy. I’m quickly learning that changing the diaper of boys is a much more dangerous experience than changing the diaper of girls.

That boy’s got a weapon in his diaper.

I call it a:

Weapon of Mass Urination

Or, “WMU” for short.

No matter how fast I change the diaper, there is just something about my ice-cold hands that makes his weapon go off at me.

Though I do admit that I was somewhat satisfied when he shot off at the Pediatrician. Hey, you gotta get your laughs wherever you can when you don’t get more than a couple of hours of sleep at a time…

Tags: WMU, WMD, Weapon of Mass Urination, SAHD, SAHF, Diaper

Jon LaJoie Coming to San Jose Improv

2009-02-05T12:31:00.001-08:00

Jon LaJoie is the creator of the Stay At Home Dad music video that I wrote about previously. Of course, he does much more than that.

If you want to see him LIVE, he will be coming to the San Jose Improv on February 11, 2009. Get your tickets here for the show.

Enjoy the show, and report back here on how it was. With my son at just a couple of weeks old, I seriously doubt that I will make it out.

Tags: Jon Lajoie, Comedy, Improv, SAHD, Stay-At-Home-Dad, SAHF, Stay-At-Home-Father

Fathers & Diapers

2009-02-05T10:44:00.001-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

My son, Nate, is now 2 weeks old and already I have changed countless numbers of diapers. The kid pees (and poops) like a race horse! I suppose that’s a good thing – the pipes are all working.

With excellent timing, a friend of ours just sent us a pointer to the following video. It was hilarious. My boy’s diapers are not stinky (breastfed baby)… yet! But, I’m sure they will get there.

Enjoy:

Tags: SAHD, Diapers, Video, SAHF, Fathers

Daddy Love

2009-01-30T20:07:00.001-08:00

Just saw this over at my friend’s blog, Sex Scenes At Starbucks, and had to share it for you here. She writes about daddy love:

When my daughter and I were skiing the other day, we ran into the husband. He teaches skiing to kiddos every Saturday. One, he always wanted to teach skiing. He's a beautiful skier and is passionate about it. Two, we get a screaming deal on season passes and lessons with his job. (The money barely covers lunch, much less gas.)

My daughter saw him and screamed, "HIIIII DAAAAADDYYYYYY!"

He waved back, grinning at her and all the girls in his class waved, too.

And then my daughter, all of 6 11/12 years old, turned to me and said, "I just love Daddy. He's such a great guy."

And I found myself all choked up, bent over my snowboard binding in a foot of new snow, tears fogging my goggles. Sometimes marriage, life becomes about stretch marks, and gray in your goatee, and laundry, and making the bed and feeding kids and broken down cars (and motorcycles and snowmobiles) and running late and "Is it possible for you to get out of Target for under $200, ya know, just once?"

And then someone who barely reaches your middle reminds you what the hell life is really about.

Yeah. Thanks for reminding us.

Technorati tags: Daddy, Parenthood, SAHD, SAHF

About Me: How I Became A Stay-At-Home-Dad

2009-01-29T08:25:00.001-08:00

At the time of this writing (late January 2009), I’m the father of 2 wonderful “kids”, I’m 44 years old, and I live in San Jose, CA (“the Bay Area”).

And I’m now a Stay-At-Home-Father.

My daughter, Jill, is hardly a kid any longer. She’s 22.5 years old, lives in Boulder, CO, and is independent and self-sufficient. I don’t count her age in months any longer, but I will give her credit for that last half-year when bragging to you. Jill works full-time for Marriott and leads a very active social life (where was Facebook when I was young?). The greatest praise I can give anyone is that they are a “Good Person” – and you can imagine all that that entails. Jill is that, and so much more. Jill is the love of my life.

My son, Nathan (aka “Nate”), is barely a kid. He’s 5 days old right now and depriving his Mom and Dad of sleep at every opportunity, and every opportunity seems to hit about every two hours. Still, he’s super awesome, and not particularly independent (yet). Nate is also the love of my life.

When Jill was born, I was a young man, just 21 years of age. I married Jill’s Mom when I was even younger still, at 18 years of age. Jill arrived just a few months after I graduated college, where I studied Computer Science at the University of Illinois. My “work” was already in full-swing as I joined a startup company and became a full-time at-work Father with no real parental training, supporting Jill’s Stay-At-Home-Mom and Jill as best I could. It was the classic American family story. Dad goes to work to support the family.

But, my American story was a bit better than most, at least when it comes to participating in my child’s upbringing. My ex-wife had a number of chronic illnesses when Jill was a child, and my work in the computer industry allowed for me to work part-time (half-time) from home, telecommuting. I was one of the early telecommuters, finding a way to balance work, home, family, and personal life pretty well, so that I could care for my ex-wife, and for Jill as best I could. I was able to climb the corporate ladder and advance my career while telecommuting. I was fortunate to be able to take Jill to school each day, pick her up, volunteer at school teaching Math, participate in after-school activities and overall be a pretty active part in her upbringing, even though I was the sole income provider for the family. Had I not gone to college, I would have never had such an opportunity to be so involved with my child’s upbringing.

Still, I was the family’s sole income provider. That was my role. That was where a ton of my attention and focus had to go for us to survive and thrive. My ex-wife’s role was to be Jill’s full-time Mom. We both did our roles to the best of our abilities, and Jill is a daughter we are both very proud of.

My first marriage ended after 20 years and my career brought me to San Jose, CA, where I was part of the founding team for my third software startup. I went on to subsequently become a consultant, working for myself. I now spend my “work” time helping really early-stage starting companies raise Venture Capital money in the Bay Area. This gives me the freedom to work from home and adjust my schedule to meet my needs. I can work a lot or a little, and the income/rewards tend to follow accordingly.

Which brings me to my second marriage. The wonderful side-effect of moving to San Jose was that I met my wife, Amy. We met on eHarmony, if you can believe that. She also works in the Venture Capital community. She’s an amazing woman and we’re a really great match. We met in early 2005, took a month-long vacation together to New Zealand in 2006, married in 2007, got pregnant in 2008, and had a beautiful baby boy, Nate, in January of 2009.

I’m extremely lucky.

Amy has a full-time job that does require that she be at the office in Menlo Park. She’s got the steady income. My income currently comes and goes based on the performance of the startup companies that I help. My consulting practice does have incredible flexibility, however. We wanted one of us to be a full-time stay-at-home parent, and it made the most sense for me to assume that role for our new baby boy.

Being a full-time Stay-At-Home-Father, and preparing for such during Amy’s pregnancy, has certainly been a scary proposition for me. I might be able to run businesses with teams of dozens of people working for me, but do I have the mental and physical fortitude to take care of one child who requires my focused attention 24-hours a day?

I continue to be scared, but I’m very excited to find out.

Amy returns to work in 2 months, then it’s all on me. Dad. At-home. Alone with baby. Doing all the “Mom” things. And you know what? I’m really looking forward to it.

As I write this, Nate enters his 6th day of life and looks to be super healthy. My full-grown adult daughter is thrilled that she now has a little brother, and will have one for the rest of her life. The future looks bright. This new path of mine has already been extremely fulfilling to me.

And, if I haven’t said it already, I’m an extremely lucky man.

2009 will be very interesting. I hope you stay tuned and take part in the ride with me.

Technorati tags: SAHD, SAHF, Stay-At-Home-Dad, Stay-At-Home-Father, Biography

A Stay-At-Home-Dad Portal at About.com

2009-01-20T17:19:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Rebel Dad for posting about the new portal at About.com for Stay At Home Dads.

Check out http://stayathomedads.about.com/

Awesome!

Technorati tags: SAHD, SAHF, At Home Father, Aout.com, Stay At Home Dads

Your Personality Type Based On Your Blog

2009-01-20T17:11:00.001-08:00

Check out Typealyzer.

It will try to predict the Myers-Briggs personality of the given blog (or, presumably, blog author).

For www.athomefather.com, we get:

ESTP - The Doers

The active and playful type. They are especially attuned to people and things around them and often full of energy, talking, joking and engaging in physical out-door activities.

The Doers are happiest with action-filled work which craves their full attention and focus. They might be very impulsive and more keen on starting something new than following it through. They might have a problem with sitting still or remaining inactive for any period of time.

That’s fairly accurate for me, when I’m really into something that I’m doing. I have taken a Myers-Briggs test before, and I think I was rated as an ENFP at that time, but I was younger and more serious then…

Hmm.

Typealyze away with other blogs!

Technorati tags: SAHD, At Home Father, SAHF, Stay At Home Father, Typalyzer, Myers-Briggs

Happy SAHD – A Documentary

2009-01-20T16:58:00.001-08:00

Found at the At Home Dad site (which appears to be Angelfire now), a link to a new documentary about 12 Baltimore Stay At Home Dads, premiering this Sunday:

What happens when a family decides that Dad will stay at home with the kids while Mom works? SAHDs (Stay-At-Home Dads) are a growing trend in our culture. This new documentary by award winning Baltimore filmmaker Michael Ivan Schwartz, Happy SAHD follows a dozen Baltimore-area fathers who have chosen for a variety of reasons to be the daily caregiver for their children. This illuminating and humorous movie reveals the every day life trials, tribulations and triumphs of these unique men living outside the norm.

Happy SAHD.

I like that.

I never particularly liked the “SAHD” acronym, as it just sounds so, um, sad. That’s one reason why I named this site “At Home Father”. Better yet would be “Stay At Home Father”, or SAHF. Isn’t “safe” better than “sad”? But, the URL for stayathomefather.com was taken, so I settled on this site. More on this another day.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing this documentary posted online at some point. Check out the preview:

Technorati tags: SAHD, SAHF, Stay At Home Dad, Stay At Home Father, Video, Documentary

Stephen Colbert - Stay At Home Dad Video

2008-12-20T14:36:00.000-08:00

Problems Without Solutions: Stay-At-Home Dads.

How can you not love a Stephen Colbert Report on Stay At Home Dads.

Enjoy the video:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Problems Without Solutions: Stay-At-Home Dads

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Tags: SAHD, Stay At Home Dad, SAHF, Stay At Home Father, At Home Father, Stephen Colbert, Video

Need Help Finding a Dad Diaper Bag

2008-12-20T14:27:00.001-08:00

I’m looking to find a good, dad-proven diaper bag. Not too big, and not too small. Not girly and not too guy-flashy (I don’t need skulls to prove my manhood). Something that nails the most-used features (whatever those are – comments?).

Any help?

My baby is due second half of January.

I’ve done some online research at the following sites, but wanted to know from folks with real-world field-tested results:

Please leave a comment. Thanks!

Tags: SAHD, Stay At Home Dad, SAHF, Stay At Home Father, Diaper Bags