I think I want to be a stay at home dad

[Laura33]

Congratulations!  I'm glad it is working out to be as wonderful as you hoped.  I'm always encouraged here when I see people going out and living the life they want -- makes me very, very happy. 

[FireLane]

Congratulations! That was an excellent update. It made me happy to read it.

Being a stay-at-home parent is deeply rewarding in its own ways, as I've found for myself. Still, I'd offer up this advice: Even if you're FIREd and don't have other responsibilities, it's OK if you need a break now and then. Taking care of little kids can be isolating if you're with them all day and there aren't other adults around.

Hopefully your wife is willing to be the primary parent on occasion, so she has an opportunity to bond with the kids one-on-one and you get a chance to see friends or pursue your own hobbies. Or you can hire a babysitter so the two of you can spend time together. We do both in my household, and it makes both me and my wife able to be better parents when we get the chance to recharge.

[lthenderson]

DW has gone in to further increase her compensation at work and received a big and unexpected bonus this spring. Finances continue to improve and we feel incredibly lucky to have had the chance to take this risk.

When one spouse is allowed to dedicate themselves to their profession instead of splitting it between work and family, usually good things happen as a result. I know if did in our situation and yours as well. It is one of those things hard to quantify ahead of pulling the trigger to be a SAHP.

[Catbert]

I'm glad this worked out for you and your family.

[obstinate]

My brother is a SAHD and loves it. However, he also takes it extremely seriously, and I want to encourage you to do the same.

• Every day, he gets up before his wife to make her hot breakfast, coffee, and a packed homemade lunch.
• He manages ~100% of the kid stuff.
• He does a lot of DIY work around the house to save money on the trades.
• He does 100% of the errands and provisioning for the family during the week so that the weekend can be completely focused on having fun.
• He also handles 100% of the housekeeping and almost all the evening cooking.
• He takes personal fitness extremely seriously. He has commented only half-joking that he means to be a trophy husband, and he has very much accomplished that.

He would not have it any other way and I'm incredibly proud of what an example he is. When I retire and become a SAHD myself, I want to emulate what he does. (Although my wife also won't be working.)

I should also say that parenting attitude matters a lot in this. Being a parent of little kids can be a lot of trouble or less a lot of trouble depending on your attitude. In our families we practice benign neglect. We do stuff with the kids and take them fun places sometimes. But when we're home and daddy's working on the laundry or the food, the kids are the kids' responsibility. You're bored? I'm glad! Kids should be bored sometimes. Hungry? Good! Dinner's in an hour. Etc. If you're someone who feels it's very important to entertain your children, this kind of thing can be pretty stressful. Things gradually become much easier as they get older.

Edit: I see that you've already pulled the trigger and have been at it for more than a year. That's amazing. You probably don't need any advice then. But I'll leave this for anyone who finds the thread later.