fatherhood
Real talk: How will you celebrate Father’s Day?
Since we talked about Mother’s Day a few weeks ago, we figured it ‘s only fair to ask about the masculine equivalent coming up this weekend. As with any family-related holiday, we know there’s a whole bunch of baggage that people have around the topic of fathers and fatherhood, but we’re opting to look for the bright spots. Couldn’t we all use a little distraction this week, anyway? It’s been a heavy news cycle lately.
We asked for some real talk about Father’s Day, and here’s what our friends said to the question, “What are you doing for you dad and/or partner for father’s day?”
- Family gathering
- My husband gets a card and small gift from the kids. I’ll also tackle bedtime duties, which is usually his domain, to give him some evening relaxing time.
- My dad is not big on holidays, but I will call him because he appreciates my time more than he’d appreciate a set of grill utensils. Are grill utensils a thing dads get?*
- Not sure yet**
- Some cool gifts (Return of the Living Dead Limited Edition soundtrack on vinyl, Night of the Creeps sweatshirt and Halloween III baseball T-shirt from Fright Rags) and dinner out
- Fishing and cook out
- Taking my dad to the local airport diner (his favorite)
- No clue.** That’s bad, isn’t it? I had an idea a while back, and even mentioned it to our daughter. But I think both she and I forgot. We’re talented that way.
- Sending a card.
- Oh, crap! Can’t someone else handle that?**
- Thinking great thoughts and smiling at how he enjoyed the simple things in life.***
* Yes. You can give grill utensils. My dad is not usually a stereotype of fatherhood, but I gave him some for a recent holiday because he was using teeny tiny tongs to grill, and I was worried he’d burn his hands off if he didn’t get some better equipment.
** These “I don’t know yet” responses are fair answers, because we posed the question a few weeks ago!
*** What a sweet answer!
How are you celebrating Father’s Day?
Stay-at-home mom vs. daddy daycare
When my co-blogger told me the news that her husband, Robb, would be quitting his job and taking care of their first baby, I wasn’t surprised. He is one of those guys that is great with kids, ready for his new life as a dad, and didn’t really care for his job anyways.
In my case, I didn’t decide until after my maternity leave that I would stay home. I was racked with indecision. I thought about studies that showed moms that worked had more independent and successful daughters. I thought about anecdotal stories of babies becoming aggressive from too much daycare. Was it better for me to stay home or for me to keep working? I didn’t really like my job. My husband loved his and made enough to support us, so I stayed home….