And so it begins...

I have been an executive in the music industry for over 20 years.  It's been a great run and by no means do I feel like I'm done, it's just the golden years of it all are years behind me.  Labels merging, layoffs, the Internet... basically, it just got a lot harder to stay employed at a full time office gig.

I know I sound totally positive in that first paragraph, but I guess that's the image you need to paint to move forward.  

The truth is, I never saw myself in this position of being out of a job and loss of career security at 42.  I could whine and get depressed, but these days,  I feel like I know more people my age in the same place as me than people working. 

So in this new world, I have found myself to be an "independent contractor", which basically means I get hired here and there, but nothing steady and have now taken on the role as stay at home dad.

I have had the great fortune of having two awesome boys and a wife who works full time.  The good fortune is that I get to be around the boys more and I get some freedom from dedicating 8-10 hours of my day in an office.  Yeah, sounds great, right? Well... I learned some things. 

1. Stay at home dad is beyond a full time job
2. You have mood swings of failure as a man
3. Nobody ever prepared you for the responsibilities of home making
4. June Cleaver made it look easy
5. There is no real playbook to know how to do things
6. Your wife (if you are married) will love you and resent you at the same time
7. The TV show The View will make you insane.
8. A little help, goes a long way.

So, #8 is why I started this blog. 

My best friend Johnny, is an out of work school teacher in NYC (my hometown and where my heart is when it comes to Cities in the world).  Johnny is currently a stay at home dad with 3 kids.  I thought I had it hard... 2 sounds like a lot, but 3 takes it to a whole new level.

Johnny and I speak, maybe, 5 times a day.  Mostly, because if I didn't have him to talk about random topics like The Ramones, Baseball, people we grew up with or our kids, I would be putting puppets on my hands and creating imaginary friends. 

Johnny would call me to tell me what he has in his refrigerator and ask what to make with it.  I would then walk him through steps on what to prepare with what he had.  When his wife would get home, dinner would be ready (sometimes) and he would get the thumbs up or get yelled at. 

Regardless of the result, I was happy I could help.  Since nobody really ever looks out for the dad who is winging it. 

I've always been a fan of The Godfather and always liked the role of the Consigliere.  He was the advisor, would help, but not tell you what to do.  Just advise.  

So here's a go to blog that will have anything I'm thinking about that day.  It can be a recipe, new music I heard, ideas of things to do with the kids...who knows... I hope this becomes a destination for stay at home dads, single parents or just guys who live on their own to just make it easier.

So, if you have any questions or comments please Ask Consiglire...