In 2004 my wife, who is much smarter than I am, had a job opportunity open up which moved our family from our home in Oklahoma to Oregon. Neither one of us had been to Oregon. From the moment we landed in Oregon for the weekend to have her final interview for her job at the University of Oregon it was non-stop. We cut most of the "vacation" and focused on where we would live? Would we even want to live in Oregon? We knew nothing about Oregon. After her final interview, they said "I can't tell you that you have the job but you might start looking for a place to live in Oregon". 36 days later, still owning a home in Oklahoma, we packed up and moved to Oregon and she started her career at the UofO. My wife works in Accounting so she is really good with budgets and stuff. She said I had 5 weeks to find a job. Her pay raise was such that I only needed to work 18hrs a week at minimum wage. I found a job as a bus driver thinking it would be the job until the real job came along. It wound up being perfect. We had 3 pre-teen children at the time so a job that allowed me to be off all summer, every holiday, and be home with the kids after school was perfect.
Learning how to be "Mr. Mom" was another story. I burnt a lot of food, turned a lot of things pink, and was nearing the edge of pulling my hair out before I finally settled into my new career, part-time bus driver, full-time Mr. Mom. In hindsight, I wouldn't change a thing. Even the hard parts. Spending time with my children as they grew up, I got to see parts of them I never knew existed. As the youngest of 4, my father worked 3 jobs while my mom stayed home to raise the children. I never knew my dad until my teenage years. By then I didn't want to start a relationship. I got to watch my kids grow up. I got to be involved with Boys Scouts with 2 of my children and I got to take fencing with my daughter then took sign languages with her. I will never forget her and me doing Whose On Fist in sign language. Becoming Mr. Mom was not my first choice but I'm glad it was my last choice.