thirtyoneblog

I almost titled this “To work or not to work, part II” but I am pretty sure we would be up to Part C and beyond before I am done with this, since I have so much to say on that particular subject.

But, specifically with regard to dads, that is the subject of one of my concerns about the All Women Must Stay Home mindset.  I think the idea that all women must stay home and that they should be the primary childcare givers at all times, can be really demeaning to fathers and their role.  The assumption is that only women can take care of their kids and do it right.  That dads are clueless and can’t be left alone with kids even for a short time, for fear they just can’t deal.  Now, to be fair, some dads aggravate this by being (or acting) clueless.  But, they don’t have to be.  That’s the whole principle behind shared parenting.  No parent should feel like he or she doesn’t know how to do that job. 

That is where I get to one of my biggest pet peeves.  The term “babysitting” when it is applied to fathers (Note that I have never heard this term used in regard to mothers).  People, babysitting is something teenagers do with kids who aren’t theirs.  I have friends who have been out and about alone and been asked, “where are the kids, is DH babysitting?”  A few of them told me it took all they had not to answer, “No, he’s *parenting*.”

Another of my pet peeves related to parenting is the term “we’re pregnant,” because as far as I’m aware, for men to be pregnant is a biological impossibility, but I’ll get to that another time.