Mentally Sexy

So my friends over at dad-blogs.com have launched an attempt to find the "World's Mentally Sexiest Dad".

Below is my entry for this contest, including the photo. There are several reasons to enter this contest, one of which being an iTouch for the winner...

...and we all know how much Big Brother loves "HIS laptop puter."

The prologue to this contest reads:
"Did you know it was recently discovered that men who help around the house, take care of the kids and generally make life easier for their significant others are considered sexy. In other words, moms don't judge us by our looks but moreso by our deeds."

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So Why I am Mentally Sexy?

Being Mentally Sexy isn't something that's done to score "husband points", to look good for others, or to win a contest. It's a fundamental part of who I am as a husband and father, a core belief of my personality.

In other words, being Mentally Sexy is about the way I choose to live my life and set my priorities. Sure, it's great to surprise your wife with a things like flowers, chocolate, a massage, or a romantic dinner periodically. It's also great to surprise your kids with a special "date" or treat. But being Mentally Sexy is really about the little day-to-day things that you do EVERY day.

My mom always said that you should care about your spouse more than you care about yourself. She was partially correct. I'd aruge that you should care about the two of you as a couple than more than you care about yourself. That might mean taking time for yourself--like for regular exercise--which ultimately benefits you both.

I have a wonderful wife of almost 7 years. We have 3 boys, ages 5, 2, and 1 month.

My wife and I are a team--we take equal share in the responsibilities of marriage and parenthood.

I work full-time, but am home most every evening and weekends. Those evenings and weekends that I'm not home, I'm working at a second job to help put together a down payment on our new house.

After the work day ("first shift") has ended, I come home for the "second shift" (my favorite). This means picking up the boys, going to their activities, fixing dinner (whoever is home first gets its started), playing, bathing, story reading, and goodnight-ing.

Some days, when my wife is really tired, particularly at times during her pregnancies with the boys, I tell her to just go to bed, and I take care of the above things myself. If she's running late from work, dinner is on the table when she gets home (never mind the kitchen is a disaster awaiting cleaning). She does the same for me when I need it. Remember, it's an equal partnership.

After we pass out on the couch go to bed, we start the night/"third shift", as we have a newborn. When he wakes up (and I do, too, which is a majority of the time), I'll go get him and bring him to our room so that my wife can feed him. Then I'll change him and put him back in his crib. My wife and I have each had times that we've been up with the baby for an hour-or-so at night, without the other being aware.

The attached picture attempts to capture why it's hard a to have your house on the market with 3 kids age 5 and under, including a newborn the essence of daily Mental Sexiness.



Have a good week,
Busy-(Mentally Sexy)-Dad-E