Be proud, be strong, be afraid... very afraid

While I was at work today I was able to soak in the glory of my pending fatherhood and some of the decisions that I have made (with much help and little debate from my amazing wife) when it comes to the ‘future’ household.  After listening to some women complain about the fact that daycare is too expensive, and working it to hard, i decided to interject on the behalf of the ways that things once were and that they are going to be on our home.  Though my wife is a brilliant woman, there is one thing that she has always wanted…. to be a stay-at-home mom.  Now, I can already hear the groans of the ultra-feminist out there, but if i could explain.  I have no issue with my wife working, in-fact, i am darn proud of it.  She is going to school full time for her MBA, she already has a bachelors in biology, she is working 2 jobs (one as a merchandiser and the other at a Christian Missions Organization). As if that were not enough she is also busy being an amazing wife…. oh yeah… AND she is pregnant.  What I am saying is this… we are fortunate enough to have the opportunity, through a strong Christian belief, a decent job and a clear understanding of the desires/wants/needs of our spouse that I am happy to work my but off so my wife can stay home and be the mother that she wants to be.  This is not something that I am forcing on her, this is something that she wants, and that I want as well.  Now, about the mention about how things once were…. and men, this is where you must stand up and understand the perspective that I have.  There once was a time in this great nation that there was a stable parent in the home raising the children while the other was working to provided the income to support the family.  Both parents had a role to play, both worked together for the family and the home, neither job was more important, it was how it was…. and the people that were in these roles and the children that were being raised were some of the best people that we have had in this nation.  Then something changed…. things became more expensive, people needed more money, movements happened and next thing we know we have kids being raised by people that are not from their families, with a different set of ideals, and parents never around.. and look at where that has gotten us.  I am not saying that this dramatic breakdown in what was once a family is why we have this recession, and the host of other issues that we have right now.  What I am saying is that when there was such a thing as a nuclear family, a stay at home mom, a hard working day, family game nights, family dinners, and we were raising our children under our own roofs with our ideals, our faith, our love and our fears… things WERE better.  Like I said, we (my wife and I) are fortunate enough to be in such a place that we can raise our family the way that we feel is the best.  That we can share with our kids the never-ending love that parents have for each other and that they have for their kids.  As well as teaching them, from the way that we live to the things that we do and say, to love God and to fear God.  Against the nay-sayers, and the boo-hooers… we ARE going to do our best to make sure that is how we have our home.  So, in closing…. I AM GOING TO BE A DAD… I am scared as hell… and I know it is going to take a ton of work…. but I am ecstatic!