Intellectual Stimulation

One thing that I didn't mention about myself is that I am attending grad school on the weekends. The original plan was that I was to work and go to school at the same time. I was feeling distraught and a little burnt out before quitting my job about 2 years ago. I was ready for a new change. I received inspiration to go back to school and get my MBA. There were weekend programs for working individuals only on the island of Oahu. We were living on Maui at that time. My wife found an interesting job on Oahu from her cousin and thought that we should both apply. The job described itself as an associate investigator for a company that is contracted by the federal government. You could work from home with this job and they will provide a car and a laptop. I thought yeah I could do this job. We both applied and we both received phone interviews. Only one of us got a call back for another interview. Yeah, it was my wife and after a few more interviews she got the job. I felt pretty proud of her because this was her first full-time job after graduating from college, however I felt kind of bad for myself. Maybe a little hurt or depressed because I thought I would be offered the job. After all I had "work" experience, my male ego was shot down. I had to constantly remind myself that I had the most important job of all; being the primary caregiver of my children.
When I found out how much paperwork needed to be done for the job that my wife did, I was glad I did not fit the job profile. I learned my lesson. Never ever apply to the same job as your spouse, you will feel hurt if the your spouse gets it. And a whole bunch of other reasons.

Now for the intellectual stimulation part of this blog. I remember a few friends' wives that were stay at home moms said that they wished they could do something like what I was doing, going to school. They said they would like to have some intellectual conversations and ocassionally learn new concepts here and then. Don't get me wrong when you are the primary care giver you are busy and it can be physically draining. The problem is that you are talking to little ones that still don't understand the concept of tomorrow or aren't potty trained.
Guys remember when you come home from work and your wife talks to you about stuff that you think doesn't matter and all you want to do is sit on the couch or your favorite chair to watch TV and relax? Well if shes a stay at home mom or is with the kids more than you, you got to stop and listen. Really listen, meaning try to understand why this converstion is important to her and why she is talking to you. It may just be a way for her to vent or talk about what happened in the course of her day. This is the way a woman connects with you. Or she just wants to talk to an "adult", she's been talking to kids all day. This listening stuff goes vice versa for women that are working and dads that are staying at home.

How to stimulate your mind?

• Read a book or magazines that interests you. Library, borrow free books. I like to read magazines about business news and trends.


• Learn something new.


• Learn how to do something, buy a do it yourself book or go online to find out how to fix something like your kitchen sink. I still have to learn how to replace a door.


• Maybe take some night courses at a community college to learn a foreign language or learn a new subject or skill.


• Learn how to play an instrument or brush up your guitar skills. Who doesn't like playing music or listening to music? Plus the kids will get a kick out of it.