Man of the House
“Stay-at-home dad: It sounds like an idea for a sitcom. In fact, it was — last season’s Daddio on NBC. And, of course, it was the basis for Michael Keaton’s 1983 comedy, Mr. Mom. Yet there’s a sizable group of men — and their wives — who take the concept very seriously.
Although there are no exact statistics on the number of fathers who elect to stay home to take care of their kids, James Levine, director of the Fatherhood Project at the Families and Work Institute in New York City, puts the figure at around 300,000 — and growing, he emphasizes. But far more interesting than the number of SAHDs (yes, they even have their own acronym) are the answers to why these men are choosing this line of work, why now, and what it ultimately means for families.”
While my husband changed his fair share of diapers and babysat when I needed to escape to the closest mall, I’m not sure that he could have been a “stay at home dad”. I might be wrong, but somehow I couldn’t see him spending hours getting to know the other moms in the park… which might have been a good thing, now that I think about it.
But I have to wonder though, how both Jamie and Brittany would have turned out if he had done the raising instead of me. Would they be any different at all? Interesting to think about.
Be sure to check out Inside Fatherhood…
I am probably not the ideal SAHD material myself, but I have done fine at interacting with moms at the playground/library. In fact, I am the one that set up our most frequent playdate family. One of the things that would get me is all the crafts and art projects that kids love to do that I am horrible at organizing.
I guess the role is different in each family. My husband was great at one on one with each of our kids, but I don’t think that he would have had the patience?? for the playdates. It’s just not him I guess.