Ignorance above all else.

I’m a stay-at-home Dad.. so I occasionally read some blogs that pertain to such things.. Well.. I just read one that claims to have finally found an honest at-home Dad.. One who basically says the job is eating Bon-bons and having affairs.

The guy’s story sounds like a cleaned up version of a Penthouse Forum letter.. and to let us know the letter is credible, the blogger said that he was the most honest at-home Dad she has corresponded with. She also says that other at-home Dads have offered themselves up for interviews but they never went anywhere.

Anyway.. here’s the blog in question .. http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2008/04/30/guest-post-what-lifes-really-like-for-a-stay-at-home-dad/#comment-146835

In response I answered the questions she raised in a post blog epilogue (after 40 comments were starting to lambast her.)

The reason this post is getting so much play is that is it phoney.

This poor blogger has been duped by an internet creation.. just like a teen-aged girl by a sexual predator.

There is a reason interviews are done face to face.. or at least on the phone.. editing the e-mails of someone you’ve been corresponding with and met via the net.. sheesh.. in this day of reporters making stuff up.. we’re supposed to believe any of this crap?

Well.. let me try to shed some light..

I’m a stay at home male parent.. my wife’s job is kick-ass.. she’s a madam.. and she pimps me out 3 days a week.. she doesn’t mind because I do the laundry.. When she see’s my rock-hard abs (hey, folding clothes is tough!) all is forgiven… she even encourages me to invite other women over for her to watch.. honest.

I say honest.. because I fear you won’t believe me unless I say it is really, really true… I learned to say that because I heard a lot of people don’t believe that Microsoft is giving away a bunch of money with AOL.. but I got millions from them.. it’s really, really true!

Truth is.. a stay at home dad is just like a stay at home mom.. except .. she’s got the boobs.. and we don’t get the typical “mom’s peragative” over the kids.. which means we have a thankless task and aren’t ever completely trusted despite being the one’s that understand what’s happening at home with the kids.. and why the kids freak out when she tells them to get dressed. .. I mean when she orders them to get dressed.

Get a clue lady…

and feel free to interview me.. I’m a live human.. and I live in Oceanside, CA.. but my wife’s job sometimes has us travel to the East Coast.. so.. let me know..

Oh.. and so I’m not one of those.. “and nothing became of it.”.. feel free to contact me.. I’ll send you and e-mail… and if you don’t keep in touch.. well.. I guess we’ll know why “nothing became of it.”

Oh.. but if I’m honest about my situation.. and I don’t have any women feeding me grapes.. or I mention that my wife and I get along or don’t.. please don’t think it’s me being dishonest.. Honesty ain’t fiction.. and people love to read fiction for a reason.. we’re even sucked into believing the fiction is true.. if they tell us sincerely, “Honest! It’s really, really true!

Enjoy!

Dave

Posted by Davesnot | May 2, 2008

Round 2

Is being a stay-at-home dad any different than the life that Betty Friedan and Sylvia Plath worked so hard to get away from?

Being a stay-at-home parent is work.. it becomes something to get away from when the other spouse refuses to participate emotionally and/or doesn’t respect the work.

Is the world really ready for stay-at-home dads?

yes, of course.

Will the world ever be ready

We’re already here.

We have done a more successful job, I think, integrating women into the work world than men into the domestic world. Are women crossing these boundaries more validated than the men who cross the boundaries?

Women still get paid squat for equal work.. call that successful?.. I suppose that means more for the men.
Women that are so blinded by their womenness.. well.. they don’t really have an perspective to be objective.. I think the question is a wash

Why is the world not talking about the downside of being a stay-at-home dad? Moms complain about this lifestyle all the time –when they are doing it — but men don’t.

Because it’s the same issues.. but the women don’t believe it’s the same issues.. so they don’t listen.. so we quit complaining.. either that.. or men are better workers than women.. but I don’t believe that.

Do women respect their stay-at-home husbands? I wonder if women might have to work very very hard to respect their husbands who stay at home. Perhaps gratitude comes easily, but respect takes a huge effort and a lot of mental tricks.

If you don’t respect the stay-at-home Dad.. then you don’t respect your partner.. and they won’t be your partner.. If you have trouble respecting someone that is trying his damndest at teaching your kids to be independant, responsible, people while you complain about a commute (ah.. alone in a car.. what a wonderful thought).. well.. there’s somethin’ wrong if a working parent can’t respect the at-home parent.

Why do women hit on stay-at-home dads?
They don’t.. not more than any other profession.. much less considering they are too busy raising the kids.. because.. at the park you don’t just stand there and flirt.. you watch your kid to make sure they are safe.. you catch the kids before when they fall.. you hug them.. you encourage them.. and you wish like hell your spouse could any of the jobs you do with the kids even remotely competently.

There ya go.. honest answers to your questions.. no need to look any farther.

Enjoy!

Dave

It’s really sad… People so want things to be controversial. 

Why can’t people find excitment and fulfulment in everyday life? What is it with our nature that makes us believe that the fringe of any group is how those groups really are… Stay at home Dads aren’t all being seduced in the playground. All followers of Islam aren’t terrorist. All surfers aren’t dumb.

If it’s a generalization… well.. it’s wrong. Maybe in the days of small tribes the use of such stereotypes worked. However, now there are just too many of everyone and everything to have these stereotypes work.

Stereotypes are a fall back to cave man days… and just about as useful as a club.