I've calmed down a bit over the weekend, and there should be a tad less ranting today. First, to the mailbag: an alert Rebel Dad reader took issue with my positively positive take on researchers Andrea Doucet who is trying to establish that men can mother. The writer makes the valid point that we guys *don't* mother: "Men are not capable of mothering! We father ... And when I go to the bathroom to pee I still do it with the toilet seat up." I'm convinced.

As opening night for "Daddy Day Care" draws nearer (Rebel Dad has secured sneak preview tix and will let you all know how it ends ...), we're getting some consensus on at-home dad reaction ("not impressed and disgusted" seems to be the majority viewpoint). I'm kind of looking forward to it. It's an Eddie Murphy movie -- I don't expect my sensitivities to be pandered to -- and I rather hope that the moral of the story is that dads parent differently, but just as well, as moms.

And I heard back from the author of Denver Post story on at-home dads, who I asked about the 2 million at-home dad stat. She claims it came from Julia Shields' "How to Avoid the Mommy Trap," so off to Barnes and Noble I go to double-check it ...

And in the media, we have a posthumous entry (Terry Leonhardy) into the Rebel Dad Hall of Fame. In at-home dad profiles, the Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania did a superb job of following the local dads group. Not only does the piece capture dads in action, it gets the stats right (two million of us, according to 1997 Census Bureau stats) and, what's more, actually analyzes long-form census questionnaires to get something of a snapshot of the local picture. As for Rebel Dad expertwatch, Bob Frank reappears, along with Alan Hawkins, a BYU prof.