Posted on 06/19/2012 1:54:32 PM PDT by posterchild
While Erica Howard-Potter manages her job as a high-powered tax attorney, her husband Jake Howard-Potter manages the house, the chores and the couple's very active 2-year-old daughter, Skyler.
Jake, who is a sculptor by trade, is the epitome of the so-called "trophy dad." The 37-year-old stays at home and stays fit, completing triathlons one day and expertly negotiating naptime and tea parties the next. And he is not alone.
"I had a dad say to me 'that skirt is really cute' and I thought who would have imagined that two dads would be sitting at swim class saying that a skirt is cute," he said.
According to the most recent Census, the number of stay-at-home fathers in the United States has tripled in the past 10 years up to 154,000. Yet, these at-home dads are still the exception to the traditional household and many treading in unchartered parenting waters.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Absolutely. I could not agree more.
Also for a new tag line...
Oh this thread is going to be fun. I was a stay home dad, for 17 years, only going back to work when the youngest was 15.
You stayed home with your children, and your wife didn't respect you? That's rather sad actually.
That philosophy went out with the idea that women should marry up. That was back when a man would have been severely threatened if his wife earned earned as much as he earned, let alone multiples of his income. In my lifetime it's not been uncommon to see female doctors and lawyers marry non-professionals who honestly don't have the same earning potential. No one bats an eye these days.
I stayed home with my children, because it was an easy decision. Didn't believe in daycare, so we could live on X if I worked and she stayed home, or live on 5X if she worked and I stayed home.
I knew a couple that did this - the husband’s career, teaching, would survive interruption better than the wife’s, a research field. And he was a bit burned out by teaching in an inner city school for troubled children.
He did a fantastic job as a father - warm, affectionate, playful, instilled good discipline, taught his children independence and a scientific frame of mind. And he was quite masculine.
When the children were all old enough for school he went back to teaching.
I got layed off 15 years ago and decided to take a little time off while on unemployment. I made a little side money and helped take care of her mother and sister who moved in with us.
No, my wife did not respect me. Even though I held up my end of the load, her daily having to go to work grinded on her and she started making comments by month 2. I was off 6 months and heard about it for next 5 years whenever she would get mad.
Its the only 6 months I was out of work since I was 16 and I am now 50. So, yes, in the end, your wife will NOT respect you not working no matter what they say at first and mine was all for it when I started.
I saw this report live on nightline. It never stated the reason why so many more men are at home with the kids. There are no jobs for the men. They where all mid thirties to forties with degrees and NO PROSPECTS for wpork while their wives are protected by the status of ‘minorities’ in the work place.
Sometimes you must read between the lines of a story or a news report!
I can't disagree strongly enough. I did stay home with children, for 17 years. I never felt like my wife didn't respect me. As a matter of fact we've been married for over 20 years, and we're still going strong.
That being said, I would prefer that I was working, if for nothing else I made 75% more than she did, until I made nothing!
That’s good for you but MOST women will NOT respect you no matter how much they say it is OK when it starts. I have had some experience in this and almost always it leads to bitter feelings for the woman.
Seen it with other people too, so I am not just talking about me.
In the current economy, maybe things have changed some but I stand by what I said. MOST women do NOT respect a stay-at-home Dad.
They hate going to work while you stay at home.
>>Nobody needs to give me an allowance and none of my appendages need to fall off.<<
I hope you saw the sarcasm tag on the first comment that I quoted.
Men are perfectly good and needed parents. I loved my Dad and adore my hubby.
Your grandson is blessed to have both of you!
I’m sorry, you wrote the first comment, didn’t you.
(mombrain)
I’m in two places at one time:)
Sorry, the appendage comment was a bit redundant from my earlier quote.
I have a hunch that social circles and geography contribute more to our different experiences with this issue than anything else. We lived in rural East Texas where the bubba and bubbette types weren’t keen on the idea either. Once we got out of the sticks, not even a speed bump.
Thank you so much. And we are so blessed to have him. What a joy he is.It is wonderful to see the world through his eyes and to have so much renewed by his curiosity.
Well it was brilliant both times!
It may be hard but you and your husband are the best of the best. Sacrificed for years for your children and now doing so for your grandchild. There needs to be more like you in America.
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