Marriages and families are usually thought of this way: the man wears a suit, goes to work, earns money and provides for his family while the woman dons a pajama, goes to the kitchen, stays at home to take care of the kids and prepares food for the husband every single day. Common, right?
Today, however, there is an increasing number of husbands and wives facing a role reversal: mom goes to work and dad stays with the kids. This, according to the good guys at Babble, has its own perks. And for the dads brave enough to become stay-at-home dads, it's actually fulfilling. Mark Tyler, that man who reportedly took on his wife's family name in their marriage, totally agrees.
"This is awesome and cool," SAHD Mark Tyler told Babble. "But it still feels a little odd."
SAHD Feelings
While some SAHDs might feel like they're "not enough" or that they won't know what to do, some people actually believe that dads can do what moms can. Laura, a chemist, agrees. "[My husband Ron] cooks, cleans, goes grocery shopping, does yard work, fixes things, maintains the cars and just about everything," she said.
Mark Tyler, talking about the challenges and adjustments he faced while he slowly became a full-time SAHD, admitted that he had to slowly learn. "It had been a huge adjustment for me, going from working full-time to part-time to eventually not working," Mark says. "But I realized that [my wife Carol] and I are a team."
While working moms are proud of their stay-at-home husbands, these SAHDs still face certain doubts and issues of their own from time to time. Here are three things that SAHDs wouldn't want to hear, and what others must avoid telling them.
3 Things Not to Say to SAHDs
1. "Hey, you're just like Mr. Mom!"
This quirky conversation opener doesn't work, says Esquire. The 'Mr. Mom' title wrongly assumes that raising the kids and doing housework is a woman's job alone. Try reversing that to "Ms. Dad" and see the ridiculousness.
2. "Somebody's on babysitting duty today!"
SAHDs usually get this when in public with kids, says Parents. While it's normally used as an innocent icebreaker, it implies that the only time dads give to their kids is when mom is busy, and dad has to babysit.
3. "You must be so bored."
Being a SAHD isn't boring. Dads get to spend many hours playing with growing kids. For some dads, this is way better than facing the whiteboard, conference table, or computer screen.
What do you think of stay-at-home dads? Share your opinion in the comments section below.
