"it's great to have you home so much... so I can tell you what to do!"

by workingdad | More from this Blogger

I'm a college professor, and although I do teach classes in the summer, the schedule is such that I have some time off in between the end of the spring term and the beginning of the summer session. It often takes a little bit of adjustment for everyone to see Dad around more.

My wife likes it when I'm home, and no, it's not because I do stuff around the house like fix a leak or clean out a gutter. (My wife does that stuff, or we pay professionals.) She said, jokingly, "it's great to have you home so much - so I can tell you what to do!"

Well, what it means for me is that she can run a few extra errands, get a little more time for herself for stuff like a manicure or lunch with the girls, knowing that I'm around to watch the kids. She also spends time planning the next Vacations, always a big deal.

But there are some things she forgets about.

My wife's job involves very little preparation outside the workplace. She's also not full-time. My job, however, does not end when the class time runs out. I am grading papers, preparing lessons, going to meetings, thinking about the next term, and this past year engaging in serious curricular development, including an on-line course in business writing. Often my job comes home with me. You recall how busy I was near the end of April, with tons of papers to grade. It's a lot more than just what goes on in the classroom. And because of the nature of the position, I teach four courses per term, while many of my friends who have found different kinds of faculty positions are teaching as little as two per term, giving them more time to do research (something I hardly have any time to do).

So I have to map out my time on the calendar during these summer months, or I'll never get anything done!

That said, we had a surprise date in the middle of the day. She came home from a doctor's appointment early enough that she could take our little one to school Thursday, and we decided to go out to lunch afterward. It was very nice to sit down and talk and hold hands as we walked to and from the diner. We did mention the girls, but we also had other family stuff to talk about, and it was a good, brief date. And she paid, too (that's cuz I paid cash at the supermarket because the cashier's credit card machine was busted)!

I'm glad I'm home more too...mostly!

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lives in the New York City area with his wife and two daughters, 6 and 3. He is a college professor who has written essays about Media and the O.J.

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