Dad for a Day
I used to be amused by stories about fathers (usually newspaper columnists) who -- after years of being the primary wage earner -- decide to take on the role of at-home dad for a day or two. I used to find them encouraging, signaling an additional convert to the ways of the involved parent.
I'm more cynical now (maybe it was the self-satisfied yet largely joyless Hard Tough Could It Be that did me in), so I wasn't that impressed with this Deseret News column about being an at-home dad for a long weekend. The author admits to never caring for his kids alone for longer than a day (his oldest is eight), and the youngest child he has to deal with is three.
I'm glad that the guy recognizes -- at least a little -- what the whole parenting this is about, but I think (I hope) that this is an increasingly anacronistic view of parenting. The guys in my neighborhood are not splitting the parenting duties with their wives 50-50, by and large, but they take on the role after work and on the weekend, and I can't imagine any of them blinking at the idea of getting some good daddy time during a long weekend. And they certainly wouldn't feel the need to crow about it in the newspaper.
The times (and the dads), they are a changin'.
Obligitory Mommy Wars Link: The National Organization for Women is now officially on the record as stating that these stories are trumped up dreck that diverts attention from the real problems facing mothers.
I'm more cynical now (maybe it was the self-satisfied yet largely joyless Hard Tough Could It Be that did me in), so I wasn't that impressed with this Deseret News column about being an at-home dad for a long weekend. The author admits to never caring for his kids alone for longer than a day (his oldest is eight), and the youngest child he has to deal with is three.
I'm glad that the guy recognizes -- at least a little -- what the whole parenting this is about, but I think (I hope) that this is an increasingly anacronistic view of parenting. The guys in my neighborhood are not splitting the parenting duties with their wives 50-50, by and large, but they take on the role after work and on the weekend, and I can't imagine any of them blinking at the idea of getting some good daddy time during a long weekend. And they certainly wouldn't feel the need to crow about it in the newspaper.
The times (and the dads), they are a changin'.
Obligitory Mommy Wars Link: The National Organization for Women is now officially on the record as stating that these stories are trumped up dreck that diverts attention from the real problems facing mothers.
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posted by Rebel Dad at
7:06 AM
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