So as you have probably guessed from the title, yes I am a stay-at-home dad. While I am lucky and thankfully I am as stubborn as a bull so I do not really care what people think, but as a stay at home dad I am pretty mind blown by how many people in society perceive a stay at home dad. I can honestly see why some stay at home dads are kind of reluctant to go out and join in with the more traditional stay at home mom. Anyway here are a few things I picked up on during my time as a stay at home dad.
Now before I start let me just say that there is nothing wrong with you guys being a stay at home dad. Here I am and I am a real cool dude, so as far as I am concerned you guys are too. But here are a few of the more amusing things that happened to me as I would dare venture out into public as a stay-at-home dad.
Dad At The Park : That Awkward Smile
Now I had no uses with being a stay at home dad at all. As a matter of fact I saw myself as pretty darn lucky that I go to do this job. But it would really tick me off when I would be at the park with my son and one of the what felt like an army of mothers would spark up conversation with me. Now while they would be trying to be nice, I would hate it when the inevitable question of what do you do? or where is mummy today? would come up. And I would say that she was at work and I look after the kid. 99/100 it was like they did not know how to react. They would do this weird awkward smile and a oh that’s great you are doing that as they are backing away.
Dad At The Playground : Small Talks
Now I am cool with sparking up a conversation with a stranger as the kids play at the playground, but my goodness do the moms all like to tell you the life story of their kids. I swear to god that sometimes I think a mom would spark up a conversation with me purely so they had someone to talk to about their own kids. They would be like oh that’s my daughter rover there she is great at the piano where I would be like cool, that is my son there, excuse me while I stop him eating the sand. When you go to the playground as a stay at home dad you better be ready to talk nothing but kids for the most part with the other people there.
Dad At The Mommy & Toddler Groups
Now I am a guy from the UK and we have these things called Mother & Toddler groups. I am sure you guys in the other parts of the world will have these or something that is similar, but with a different name. Anyway when my son was really young, I am talking about 8 months, I really wanted him to at least see other babies around so I looked at parent and kids groups. Of course the three that were near me all had freaking mommy in the title. So I rang the one closest up to see if I was even allowed to go. The lady (it had to be a lady) I spoke to on the phone said it would be great to have a dad there. So off I went I wanted to get there a little late so I would not be waiting there on my own. But as soon as I walked in I felt a million stares! If you have ever seen an old Western movie where a stranger walks into a local saloon and the music stops and every one turns and stares. Well that was how I felt. Being serious though after the awkwardness had stopped I actually made some pretty cool friends here and my son got to be around other babies.
Some Final Thoughts About Being Stay-At-Home Dad
Being a stay at home dad by far eclipses anything else I have done in my life. And while society may still not be 100 percent comfortable with the idea of a dad putting his bow and arrow away and no longer hunting for food, I do think that for the most part while there is a little awkwardness people are getting better at accepting a stay-at-home dad. I just want to say that even though you will come across some real rude and strange people who fail to fathom the role of a stay at home dad. The problem is with them and not you, always remember that!