One housedad's struggle to remain chirpy in a world full of sleep-deprived women and toddlers with toilet issues.
Meet Ed. Everyone always thinks Ed has the day off. Why else would he be out and about with three small children? But Ed has a wife with a paying job and a belief that parents should screw up their own kids rather than leaving it to strangers. Most importantly, he also has a pen-pal...
'PlayStations and Pooh' is written as a series of emails sent by a veteran housedad to encourage another housedad who is much nearer the start of his career. Unlike most depictions of housedads, Ed is happy and competent rather than repressed and hopeless. He just has a tendency to find himself in awkward situations surrounded by crazy people. Through dealing with these disasters, he passes on his knowledge of how to survive as a stay-at-home parent.
As he describes it, 'The hours are long, the holidays are rubbish, the pay's a joke and there's heavy exposure to toxic biological waste. On the plus side, there's plenty of fresh air and exercise, a steady supply of hugs, relatively little stress, strong job satisfaction and an army of amusing minions. You also get to play 'Hungry Hippos' and call it work.'