MY HUSBAND is currently walking down a road less travelled, marking yet another epoch in our lives.

He’s finished his national service and has taken over the minding of our son, Baby K, as our nanny returns home to Central Java for a well-deserved holiday.

What a topsy-turvy arrangement, a conventional person might say, once he learns that my husband is 11 years my junior, and that I currently work all day while hubby keeps house.

But we’re not very conservative, and our lives are not very orderly, so our circumstances – to our minds – are perfectly normal.

And now that my husband has completed his national service, he is free to choose what to do next as he enters the next phase of his life.

He’ll start by looking for a full-time job. But in the meantime, why not spend time with the family?

Once he starts work, whenever that might be, his days will be filled, leaving him with less time for Baby K and me.

I’m happy to support him as he fills the role of full-time daddy. For me, the most interesting part about having my hubby, D, at home alone with Baby K is the change it brings about for us as a couple.

At 17 months old, Baby K is no longer content to lie in his cot and stare at the ceiling.

He is not only a bundle of energy who needs to be fed and watered, but also at the stage where he needs constant discipline and guidance as he explores his surroundings and tests boundaries (and, not to mention, our sanity).

Having D willingly handling all this on his own has meant a lot to me because I know from experience that it is no easy task.

Being a stay-at-home parent is definitely as much of a full- time job as, well, a full-time job.

I know this from the times that I’ve been at home all day alone with baby, and those were challenging times indeed, no matter how much I enjoy spending time with my child.

Though not yet in his “terrible twos”, Baby K has already inherited his parents’ stubborn streak and fierce sense of individuality.

This translates daily into behaviour such as refusing to eat for no reason and scattering all the books in our study onto the floor.

Thanks to my job, I get to “escape” to work for eight hours every day, leaving the hardest parts of child-rearing to my man. And when I come back home to Baby K, he’s quiet, clean, and at his cuddliest.

It all makes me realise that D is a man of great patience.

How many fathers are both able and willing to take on the daily responsibility of nurturing their child without their spouse, domestic helper or grandparents pitching in?

D is also 23 years old, and I have not met many men his age who would wholeheartedly choose to deal with K at his most trying.

As a wife and mother, I’m also glad that these idyllic days give D and Baby K time to bond. They visit me at the office during lunchtime and later go on dad-and-son excursions.

Typically, this means a romp at the beach, or a short trek around town, with Baby K in a pouch on D’s back.

Such days are precious because they are numbered. Soon, D will get a full-time job. And as K grows older, other things will occupy his attention, such is the nature of a growing child.

These days, I find myself coming home from a long day at work to D and Baby K, and I give a prayer of thanks for the family I’ve been blessed with, and for a husband who lovingly gives his time to his child.

With Mother’s Day just past, I feel that Father’s Day should come early for D. We will be celebrating what he has done for me and Baby K, and more.