1st Time DaddyMy own experience of becoming a first time parent

I love my job. I’m lucky enough to get paid for a job I enjoy, and I don’t take for granted the fact that I do not dread Monday mornings. That said, I’m gutted to have to go back to work today.

First day back from paternity leave has been tough. This morning I honestly had a lump in my throat as I left my wife and 2 week old son in bed while I went to work. But, I suppose someone has to pay for the nappies, clothes, toys and everything else that a baby needs.I’m sure I will soon get back into the routine of working again, it just seems like a lifetime ago I was last at work. So much has changed it feels weird going back to my desk to pick up where I left off 2 weeks ago, as if nothing had happened.

I already have loads of photos loaded onto my laptop, and have spent a good chunk of the day looking through photos and texting my wife to ask how they are getting on. My wife is still recovering from her operation and can’t drive for another few weeks. Luckily her mum has taken a week off her work to look after her while I am at work.

I found myself counting down the minutes until I could get back home to my family. It’s been such a long day with the close of theshift and the payments for the company,  thankfully now we use the checkstubs for the companies payments, but I finally made it back home in time to help with bath time.

I am really grateful to get 2 weeks off to spend time with my family, but I do wish it could have been longer. I could quite happily be a stay-at-home dad, but I know I need to go back to work to support us all.

So this is our roles as parents, which matches what the majority of other couples do. The mum stays at home and looks after and raises the children, while the dad goes out and earns money to give the family what they need and for which I had to learn how to generate forms for tax payments. It works well for us, I just sometimes wish I could spend a bit more time at home as I’m sure I will miss out on a lot as he grows up, but that’s just the way it goes I suppose.