My wife just returned from a Tastefully Simple conference in Minnesota. This was something that she really wanted to attend, and we both thought would be good for her growing business.

She currently watches two other boys with our son during the day which presented a problem — who would watch them Wednesday through Friday?

Always one to help, her mother graciously offered to cover Wednesday, and I volunteers to take two vacation days to cover the rest. This was going to be a piece of cake I thought, how different reality turned out to be over my idyllic version.

In the process I learned a few valuable lessons I wanted to write down for those moments when I am not really appreciating my wife for what she does.

Revelation #1:
Boys are loud, really loud.

If you are not feeling well, get ready for a rough day. Thursday morning I woke up with a wicked sinus headache. I downed ibuprofen like they were chick-lets.

Not a show stopper, something I knew wouldn’t slow me down much. That is until the collective screaming of three boys were added to the mix. They don’t ever seem to stop chasing each other, wrestling, playing, pretending, screaming, shouting, crashing, crying, and in general making the biggest amount of racket I have ever heard.

It took about ten minutes for my headache to go into overdrive. Repeated attempts to get them to use their inside voices would provide a temporary, and I do mean temporary relief.

Revelation #2:
The Computer is your Lifeline to Sanity

I used to think that my wife spent too much time on the computer. Sure I knew she did a lot of work, but I’ll be honest, I thought there was a lot of extra surfing going on that could be eliminated (Sorry in advance honey, I just didn’t know what its like!).

On Thursday morning out iMac died. Bit the dust. All of my efforts with the tools I had on hand failed miserably and I found myself without a computer downstairs from that point on.

It felt like someone yanked my lifeline to sanity out of my hands. I couldn’t check email, couldn’t do research, couldn’t screw off in a location that was centrally located in a place that would allow me to keep an eye on the three boys.

Its a sad example of how electronic our lives have become. I wanted to read but my book was nowhere to be found, so I decided to get the kids doing something I knew would keep them busy — Arts and Crafts for their moms.

Revelation #3:
Boys have Black Holes for Stomachs.

I’ve heard my wife complain numerous times about how much these kids eat. Big deal I thought, you have to stop and get a snack. “Brutal” I would think to myself.

Guess what? It is brutal. Its just another interruption to the limited productivity you are trying to accomplish while watching them. Add in the screaming and you basically have an interruption of some kind every minute of the day.

Despite all of this you might think I am advocating that we not watch the kids. Absolutely NOT. I love the fact that Maverick has his two good friends over every day to play. His days are never boring and he gets to have what are essentially brothers to play with.

We think its good for him to learn about sharing and interacting in a multi-child home environment. When his sister comes home I would rather that knowledge already exist rather than have to teach him when she does come home.

In conclusion, the stay at home wife does not have an easy job, don’t think for one minute that she does. When you get home and she has things for you to do, don’t grumble, do it. She needs your help.

And who knows, after you start showing her what a great husband you are she might not mind when you go out and buy an iPhone (okay, maybe she will mind).