A new beginning

Hello, my name is Tom; I just put in my two weeks notice at work.........and I am scared shitless.

Why?  Because I am about to embark on a journey that I'm not really sure I'm prepared for.  I am two weeks away from becoming a stay at home dad.  I can just hear my family and friends now, "Oh, those poor kids."

To say that our family life has been chaotic is somewhat of an understatement.  Karla puts in long hours at work mixed in with the occasional travel. I work full time and attempt to help coach a baseball and softball team.  The kids have summer conditioning, art camp, ball, and a lawn mowing job.  I'm sure there are a few things that I've forgotten, but you get the picture.

The straw that finally broke the camel's back came last month.  For a three week period the family never made it home before eleven o'clock.  The last day of the stretch resulted in me unlocking the front door and, upon opening it, getting smacked in the face with a rank smell. A full on, eye watering, assault of the proboscis.  A nearly successful assassin's take down of the schnoz and gag reflex.

"Holy Crap" I coughed, "What is that?"

"I don't know" said Karla, "You check the trash and the compost bowl.  I'll get to work on dish mountain."

The culprit ended up being the trash, so, one disaster down.  On to the next.

Toby, our 13 year old with the hollow leg, has his head buried in the fridge and yelling, "Man, there's no food in here."

Normally you can tell a kid, "No, there's plenty of food.  There's just nothing here you want to eat."

But in this case it was true.  We've been so busy that neither Karla nor myself had had any time to go grocery shopping. The milk was gone and all that sat in the fridge was some cheese and variety of rotten fruits and vegetables that we forgot we had.  I did manage to find some hamburger in the back of the fridge but Karla told me to throw it out.

"Why?  It smells ok."

"Tom, when was the last time we had hamburger?"

Good point.

So the family had water, a few granola bars, and a shared a bag of chips before bed......Yummy.

The next day Toby is digging in the dryer.  He backs out, throws his hand up in the air and says, "I have no clean socks."

Ok.....Enough is enough.

That evening Karla and I sat down for a serious conversation.  Financially we were doing exceedingly well.  The family? Not so much.  It was time to focus on achieving some balance in our lives.  It was agreed that the lower income would cut back to a part time job (I found one, two hours a day and home by 8:30 am) and pick up the slack at home......Well, guess who that turned out to be?

And that's how I ended up here.  As stated earlier, I'm scared, but I'm excited as well.  This whole day has been one big emotional roller coaster with me just trying to keep it all under control.  Happy.....sad.....worried.....excited.  Yes, I've gone completely neurotic.  Perhaps I need a Midol.

But enough about me and my maladjusted brain (for now).  Let's get on to why I started this blog.  There are two reasons: One, I felt I needed a way to hold myself accountable as I journey into the unknown. All my triumphs will be blogged for all to see; but so will my failures and, if there is one thing I don't accept well, it's failure.  This blog will help me stay on the straight and narrow.

The second reason I started this blog is I'm a little concerned about my social well being.  I'm not the type who can just walk up to a stranger and strike up a conversation.  In fact, I'm more inclined to shut myself up into the house and resist human interaction all together.

I've had visions of me doing the whole Tom Hanks Castaway thing where I draw faces on soccer balls and line them up all over the house.  "So, how's your day?"

Granted, a blog is not the same as a real conversation, but that's good enough for me.

The blog name, The Mainstream Runaway, I thought was an accurate assessment of what a stay at home dad is.  A minority.....A rarity.  At least in this part of the world it is.

But I have to admit that the name for the site was not my first choice.  I started with Somewhere in Kansas but Karla said it wasn't "flashy" enough.  What?

"If you hope to make any money on this blog you need a name that will catch someone's eye."

"Money?" I asked, "I can do that?......Pfft.  Whatever.  I don't care about no stinking money."

But Karla was adamant that Somewhere in Kansas did not fit the bill. She was also equally (if not more so) unimpressed with Musings of the Midwest Moron.

Where the Mainstream Runaway actually came from I have no idea.  I just heard myself say it.  As soon as I said it I thought, "No, that will never do."

But Karla's eyes lit up, "That's it.  I like that." And, since I'm all too aware of who gives me my allowance, I went with it..... So there you have it.

The one thing I did promise myself is that I will not pigeon hole myself on this blog.  Everything that happens, or has happened, to me will be documented.  Whether it be the adventures of Captain Coupon, a bike ride with the kids, or memories of loved ones lost.  It will all be here.

One thing I can promise you is that I will never talk about politics.  There are more than enough people out there riling up the public.  There is no need for me to add to that mess.

So buckle up and enjoy the ride......Even if it only results in a flat tire shortly after leaving the driveway. Oh and, by the way, if you happen to be a real writer or an English teacher I'm sure to drive you absolutely insane.