Daddy 911

I really need to watch more TV apparently. Loyal reader Jason ended up channel surfing over to Nanny 911 last week, astonished to find that the show -- generally a showcase of bad parenting -- including "a stay-at-home-dad who was amazing at his job." Apparently, mom didn't do so well with the kids when she returned home from work, necessitating a visit from the reality television gnomes.

From what little I've seen of Nanny 911 and Supernanny, the general plot is almost always the same: there is a well-meaning but usually overwhelmed mother and a father that is almost entirely checked out. I am encouraged -- I might even call it progress -- to hear that Nanny 911 has flipped that structure around. I hope it emphasizes that the gender of the parents isn't all that important: dads can manage the household just find, moms can be overwhelmed ... and vice versa. It's all about the little steps.