Welcome One and All

Almost two years ago I left my marketing job at Hasbro to become a stay-at-home dad. We just had our 4th child, and we needed to move to a place where the type of employment I wanted wasn’t readily available. Many people asked what I was going to do to keep busy.

As the husband to a physician I have spent more time alone with my kids than many dads do because of spouse work hours, overnight calls, etc. I also was a solo parent when we only had our first child during my wife’s 6 month deployment in Iraq, so I knew somewhat how busy I was going to be. I didn’t think I would have a lot of extra time.

People suggest consulting, working part time at Target (I would for the discount), trying to work remotely for the company I was at, and many other things. Knowing that sales is not my forte, however, and that I often can’t even get the dishwasher emptied during the day let alone complete a client engagement, I didn’t think consulting was for me.

“I’ll start a daddy blog,” I mused, and then didn’t really do more. There are a lot of daddy blogs out there. I didn’t know if I had anything more to add. I never anticipated, however, that I would be a 41-year-old-Mormon-former-brand-manager-stay-at-home dad. Well I anticipated I would still be Mormon, but the rest was not in my life plan. That’s a lot of dashes, so perhaps between all those dashes there will be something to write about–for my own benefit if for no one else’s.

Turns out we moved back to a part of the country where marketing and brand management is again a viable career path but I’m still a stay-at-home dad. Being husband to a talented and beautiful wife with a demanding job and a father to 4 great kids is busy. There is a house to clean, food to prep, our faith to teach and places to go. And laundry. Lots of laundry.

There is a lot to keep up with, so I give you Keeping Up with Mr. Jones. A blog to chronicle this time in my life. I plan to write about those days when the kids smile and say please and thank you while eating home-baked, whole grain muffins and skip off to bed and fall asleep promptly after cozy stories. Also those happy times when socks are the enemy of all happiness and you are an evil overlord because you prepared and presented food. I will also throw in my interests about food and cooking, tv and entertainment and my efforts to get healthy (sometimes at odds with my interests in food and tv).

So welcome to Keeping Up. Thanks for joining me!

As you’ve decided to read my blog, here are a few key terms I’ll add more as time goes on, but this is enough to get going. 

Mr. Jones: That’s me. Stay at home dad to a physician wife and 4 kids. I started my out-of-home career at a public relations agency in New York City, where I managed media relations, corporate communications and communications strategy for clients in healthcare, technology, and consumer products. I have a BA in public relations from BYU and an MBA in marketing and Strategy from Boston College. I enjoy cooking, television, reading fantasy and science fiction, and almost anything pertaining to super heroes.

Wife: I will refer to her as my wife or Dr. Jones. She is a pediatric anesthesiologist. We met at church choir practice during her 3rd year of medical school. She is pretty much amazing as she keeps people alive during surgery, can make chocolate chip cookies, quilts and sews, and is always looking for new hobbies.

Kids: Dr. Jones and I have 4.

L, a 10 year-old-girl

W a 5 year-old-boy

A a 3-year-old girl and finally

C, a 2-year-old boy.

Church: We are members of The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Mormons. I’ve been a member my whole life, as has my wife (I only have one).