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Kyra Ostendorf '95 and Peter Munene '89 with Nelson. "It's safe to say that I never expected to stay home," says Peter.
GREG HELGESON |
And the winner is...
After Nelson (now 2) was born, Kyra Ostendorf '95 was excited about staying home for a year. Four months later, her husband, Peter Munene '89, lost his job as an IT director for a start-up company. Fortunately, rental income and savings from Peter's job enabled them to enjoy a year and a half at home together with Nelson. Once the end of the money was in sight, "we kind of had a contest of who's going to get a job first, the winner being the one who didn't get the job," recalls Peter. "So I did win."
In Kyra and Peter's circle of friends, there are several stay-at-home dads. And most other fathers who hear about Peter's job are envious. "It's safe to say that I never expected to stay home. But I never expected to be married or have children, so I'm not that surprised," Peter says.
And Kyra, who had expected to stay at home, is glad to be working. "In a lot of ways, I was ready [to go back to work], emotionally as well as financially." The big challenge was finding a job in her field of education that would pay enough for Peter to be able to stay home with Nelson. She finally found a position writing curriculum for Knowledge Learning Corp., which runs child care centers across the country. She was able not only to use her degree but to test the curriculum and its tools on Nelson, who was developing at about the same rate as the learning materials.
"I think it's actually really good that I'm the one working," muses Kyra. "Because if I were home with Nelson full time, Peter would be home on the weekends and feel this pressure to get work done on the house and then I'd be with Nelson seven days a week, 24-7."
| 'We kind of had a contest of who's going to get a job first, the winner being the one who didn't get the job.' |
Working on their house in Minneapolis' Seward neighborhood is Peter's passion, when Nelson's napping or at preschool. "I'm pretty sure that going back into IT isn't something I want to do. I've had dreams of starting my own business in a whole new area of woodworking and furniture making. I think we're still moving towards that and I'll be taking the plunge in the next year or two to see if I can have a shop run out of the basement or garage."
Peter's also become quite the multi-tasker, taking care of household business on the phone while doing the laundry. He says staying at home is similar to the project management work he used to do. "Certain things have to be done so you plan your day, create your routines." But then there are blocks of time that are free and flexible for trips to the zoo and bonding with Nelson. His favorite thing about staying home: "seeing a child learn is just a miraculous experience."
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