#SAHH (Stay At Home Husband)

I’ve heard ‘em all by now, “house husband,” “kept man,” “stay at home husband,” so if you got a new one I’d love to hear it.  For the time being let’s just go with “stay at home husband.” (#SAHH)  

My former company went through layoffs over a year ago; since I wasn’t working, my wife, Vicki, accepted a temporary work assignment for six months in Ireland last March; we moved to Ireland in May; Vicki was asked to consider another international temporary assignment in the Netherlands in October; we moved back to the States in November; Vicki was offered Netherlands position in November; we moved to Oss, Netherlands in January.  There’s our story in a nut shell.  

I’m not going to lie living the SAHH life has it’s moments but there are some dark days too.  Coping with the fact that I’ve been out of work for one year & four months (but who’s counting) does weigh on my brain.  But I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a huge thanks to my wife, Vicki for her love and support (and for dragging her “deadbeat husband across Europe.”)  

While we were in Ireland, spouse’s could not be granted a working permit easily so I joked that I worked for the Irish Tourism Dept.  Since my wife and I planned activities and hosted 14 friends and family in Ireland over the course of the summer.  My new home became TripAdvisor, spending hours researching and later reviewing our travel experiences.  Speaking of travel, my wife and I worked very hard at filling up our passports, visiting 9 (10 inc Ireland) countries throughout Europe.  Something would not have been conceivable if I had not been a SAHH. 

The move to the Netherlands presents some new opportunities for this SAHH, work? school? professional blogger?  We’ll see; stay tuned.  

Thanks for reading my rants.