An at-home dad trend in the works. At least four blogging at-home dads have had their wives leave town/leave the house for a few days this month, underscoring the importance of co-parenting on overall household sanity. As much as I argue the idea of men-as-primary-caregivers, it's worth noting that at-home dads aren't usually flying solo. Mother's Day may have been more than a week ago, but it's still worth reflecting on their stabilizing influence. A snapshot:

Ben over at the Trixie Update reported that with his wife at a two-day conference "Trixie is going apeshit bonkers. ... Trixie has been tramping around the apartment in a weepy mess, there are Cheerios everywhere and I'm still discovering the sticky range of this afternoon's applesauce bomb."

Ditto Daddy Zine: "B. gets home sometime tonight. Which will cheer me up considerably."

Laid-Off Dad was also longing for his wife while she was on jury duty, noting that while she was gone: " ... the wheels came off. ... After we got home, there would be no nap. Instead, there would be four hours of ridiculous, sleep-deprived demands while thunderstorms raged outside.

Russ of the Daily Yak, on the other hand, is just at the beginning of a five-day single-parent drill. He reports "All's well on the home front." I'll have to check back in with him in a couple of days and see if he's kept his sunny demeanor.

As for Rebel Mom, she's off to travel on business next week. And Rebel Kid and I plan to tag along, carrying extra cash in case applesauce bombs require leaving hotel housekeeping with extra large tips.