This article made be think of all the times that Dad’s get left out of the parenting equation by society. One of the most annoying things about caring for my daughter is shopping.
I’m not going to mention whining or anything like that, how about when she needs a diaper change and there is no changing station in the men’s washroom. There are a number of stores locally that are missing this and don’t have a family washroom, so I change her where on the floor of the bathroom? I’ve done it but it’s pretty disgusting in my opinion.
Then there is the perception of people in general. Because I work at home, I get my daughter from daycare and make dinner. Most days of the week my wife get’s home to dinner made and a clean house but when we talk to friends they always try to make sure that I’m doing enough to help the wife.
Now I don’t intend this to belittle my wife, she is an awesome woman who loves me and does a lot for our family. The way our life works I just happen to be the main caregiver and that’s totally fine.
What’s not fine is everyone else assuming that Dad does little with the child rearing and it’s a burden that’s only for Mom. The lack of a change table makes me mad enough that I ask for a manager in every store now and ask for a formal complaint with the regional authority. Yes I’m that guy, but nothing will change if someone doesn’t make a fuss, so I’ll be that guy.
Let’s see about changing the perception of Dad.
6 responses to “Dad’s On the Outside”
This also comes up over the subject of breastfeeding. We make so much noise over breastmilk versus formula when we ignore the fact that half of all parents can’t breastfeed 😉
But seriously, this is a pretty good heads up for all the Dads to be out there.
That doesn’t really get me going, it’s simply something we can do nothing about. One thing that we did to still help me bond with our daughter early was to have me come up and read her a story before bed after she was done feeding. Yes a number of times she was asleep and I really just read to myself but I enjoyed the bonding and wouldn’t trade it for anything.
My wife read “how to raise a reader” and apparently bedtime is golden time for bonding with the little ones. That’s when they are most receptive to what you have to say.
I put her to bed a few nights a week still. It’s one of my favorite things to do.
Thanks for linking to us! One of the things that gets me is when I’m at the grocery store with my son and he’s being his average three year old hard-to-wrangle self, random people (!) and the cashiers will make comments about it as if I’ll be glad when it’s mom’s turn next time, or laugh and joke as if it’s a punishment for me to be at the store with my kid.
Yup that’s annoying. I often reply that I’m the full time parent and I don’t really care about the whining. I usually take my daughter shopping even with the wife home. Gives us more time to hang out.