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Happy Father’s Day
By Meg | June 17, 2007
Happy Father’s Day to any dads who might be out there.
Today I reflected quite a bit on the memories I have of my father. I was only six when he passed away, but he had a great impact on my life. Because he was retired, he was a stay at home dad while my mom worked. Growing up, that seemed perfectly normal. However, now that I am older I can see that it isn’t very common in the U.S.
In fact, I don’t feel like it is yet very accepted here in the U.S. for a guy to be a stay at home dad. Unfortunately, many stay at home dads do not get the support that they need. I know that some people think that stay at home dads are lazy or unmanly. Personally, I think that is a great disservice to them and to women. Good stay at home dads, just like good stay at home moms, have a lot on their plate. I don’t consider either position an easy job. Furthermore, though, I believe that our society must give men permission to help out in non-traditional ways (like at home) if we are really going to see more equality between sexes. It’s o.k. to share the work. I really applaud men who aren’t afraid to cook or burp the baby or vacuum (which is not to say that I don’t applaud the women who do this and more).
Now, on something closer to the theme of this blog…
Another things I remember about my dad is that he always bought me the most wonderful dresses. I remember two in particular. One was red with tiny bells hidden in the skirt’s ruffled layers. The other was a special Christmas present. I wanted a yellow dress to match the yellow popsicles I loved to eat back then. Somehow, he managed to find a gorgeous yellow dress for Christmas before the internet era. Those were a wonderful few years. I really felt like a princess.
I wonder sometimes if my love of dresses now stems from those memories. I wish my dad could have met my husband. He has a wonderful way of making me still feel like a princess. While we don’t have children yet, I know he’s going to make a wonderful father.
Tags: Fashion, Special Occasions
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June 18th, 2007 at 9:26 am
I agree wholeheartedly. My husband is a stay-at-home husband who travels with me all the time when I’m away on business, and we couldn’t be happier.
I clear enough to cover the both of us, and I’m thrilled to have such support from him (cooking, cleaning, fixing, setting up, driving), especially when I’m tired after a long day. But I find that friends and family meet this arrangement with a lot of suspicion because they want the guy in the family to ‘make something of himself’ (their words, not mine).
It bothers me, but we’ve come to realize that it’s our life, not theirs, and if we’re happy.. why knock it?
I’ve found that if both spouses are too ambitious, the relationship takes a strain from the lack of time being spent together, so there has to be either perfect synchronization and a perfect work-life balance, or the relationship will really, and truly, suffer.
Your dad was a man ahead of his time. :)
June 19th, 2007 at 2:54 am
Unfortunately, that’s exactly the attitude that I’ve seen again and again. And the weird thing to me is that despite all the heated discussion about stay-at-home moms versus working moms and how we women are expected to “do it all”, no one seems to be talking seriously about stay-at-home dads! Can it really be that revolutionary an idea?
You are right, though. My dad was definitely a man ahead of his time.