Mike Berry hears all this and more when he’s out being a dad with his kids.
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I must confess, I spit my coffee across the table this morning as I watched the outstanding video, Crazy Sh*t People Say to Dads, posted to YouTube yesterday by Make It Work. Hilarious … and unfortunately true.
“You must be on mommy-duty today!”
“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”
“Oh, look at dad with the baby, that’s so nice of him!”
Yep, heard it all. I’ve been asked these ridiculous questions and many, many more.
Can we just stop it already?
Stop assuming that because I’m a man, and a father, that I can’t (or don’t) parent my children the same way my wife does. I can. More than that … I do.
A couple of years ago, my wife decided to start working outside of the home to help earn some extra income for our family, while I pursued writing full-time. When we announced it on Facebook, people responded with comments such as, “Look at you Mike, becoming a mommy-daddy!”
The worst was this one (said to my wife), “So … how’s that going to work with you being a mom and all?”
Kristin responded with brilliance,“Did you ask Mike that question, about being a dad, when he was working outside of the home?”
You could’ve heard a pin drop.
Maybe it’s because for decades it’s been mom at home, dad at work. It’s the picture of the American family that many of us have grown up with. I remember my mom always being around and dad heading off to work each day. So, I get it. I really do. I understand where the stereotype comes from. It was the time we lived in. But, newsflash: times have changed. And it’s a good thing, too.
First of all, let’s get one thing straight: when moms stay at home to raise their kids, they ARE working! In fact, they’re doing the hardest job on earth: being a parent. But we dads are now working from home and in the home, too.
I’m not pinch-hitting for my wife by taking care of my kids … I’m not babysitting … I’m not just being a good dad who’s involved when I drive my kids to school or doctor’s appointments. I’m being a DAD! I’m being a parent. I’m doing the exact thing that I signed up to do when I chose to raise children.
Please, please, please stop asking me if my wife helped me do my daughter’s hair, pick out her outfit, or wrote out a script for me to know what to say at the pediatrician’s office. I do everything my wife does for our kids. She does everything I do. We parent together. We’re BOTH parents.
Originally published on Babble
Photo—Make It Work/YouTube