ENTREPRENEUR Maurice David said he chose to be a stay-at-home dad while his wife goes to work, so he could be in their children’s lives while they were growing up.
He homeschools his three children while tending to a backyard garden and working from home.
David lives in Wallerfield on just under an acre of land on which he keeps chickens, rabbits, and grows produce. His three children are Zara, eight; Yeva, seven; and Xola, three, whom he raises with his wife, Gem. He has been homeschooling them for four years.
They decided on homeschooling their children after Zara's birth. David said staying at home became an easier decision once his wife was offered a job outside the home.
“We had a small business and it had its ups and downs. I used to be out a lot when the girls were younger, to make up what the business didn’t bring in. I had to do schoolwork with the children, and something always got in the way of doing work.
"We had a good family support system, but it’s not all the time you can get someone to take the children because everyone’s also busy doing their own thing, and when you’re not earning enough money, you can’t hire someone to come in and help all the time.”
He said during covid19, they had been growing and delivering produce and were on the verge of expanding to a physical location.
It was then his wife was offered a job through a friend of a friend. He told her to go ahead, as it would allow her to do the work she was interested in, and he would stay home and take care of the children.
[caption id="attachment_1090223" align="alignnone" width="1024"] As part of his daily house dad duties, Maurice David gets the dirty laundry ready for washing. - Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
“I made the decision because one, now we would have a guaranteed income from at least one person, and two, the kids really needed looking after. I was looking at their development and we had reached a point we were making so much progress, I didn’t want to have to be moving my schedule around, missing days, and not being able to accomplish and bring them to where I wanted to see them growing in their education.”
David said another reason for the decision was that his mother fell ill and passed away while living in the US.
“I was looking at the relationship we had and I said I wanted to be able to spend more time with my family. I really saw I wanted to be part of my children’s lives, I didn’t want to be missing certain things.
“I didn’t have my mother and father with me all the time growing up. My mother left when I was probably two years old – I don’t remember her as a child, the next time I saw her I was about 12. My father left when I was seven. They both went abroad to pursue education and get a career.
"They never moved back to Trinidad, they created their own life and just got into work and all those things.”
He said he wanted something different.
“I really wanted to have a connection with my children and to build those great moments, and I feel like right now the period before they reach ten, 11, 1
