Meet Mr. Mom, or Let's Find A PC Scapegoat
RebelDad warns us that NBC's new reality show "Meet Mr. Mom" starts next week. He asks that we boycott its sponsors for supporting such Daddy-bashing crap.
I would like to reserve judgement until I see the show. Since I'm not on any ratings programs, I shouldn't be the point to keep it on. I have a feeling it will be like a trainwreck - so bad that I can't look away. From what I've seen, it promises to be pathetic. Premise is Mom goes on a week-long vacation, Dad has to run the house. Since he's a Daddy, he should be clueless about how things work in the household and hilarity should ensue as Mom watches mouth agape on closed-circuit television.
This reminds me of those really annoying commercials where Mom and Dad are clueless imbeciles as the kids run the show.
I've said it here before, DADS CAN RUN A HOUSEHOLD! Sure, my Hubby isn't the masculine version of June Cleaver, my dinner is never ready when I come home from work, I do a lot of laundry, and the dishwasher is still almost-forbidden territory for Daddy. But, the kids are cared for, they're happy, they're stimulated, they love their Daddy and Daddy loves them. That's what matters to me and him, and I think many SAHMs have given up the Stepford Wife ideal, too. Why do women not have to live up to unrealistic goals anymore (as far as I can tell), but SAHD's do?
posted by Katherine Zander @ 5:00 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Garfunkel is spelt -el at the end not -le as in your profile. Please amend - SPELLING POLICE.
both my wife and i work to support our two boys, ages 5 and 2.
i do all the cooking, bill paying and planning for the long-term future, ie. how we plan to get where we want careerwise and homewise and making sure we're motivated to go visit interesting places on vacation.
i take care of the boys in the morning because i'm home a good bit of the morning. i bathe them at night about 50/50 in the course of a week.
my wife generally looks out for their overall well-being. she cleans everything. things wouldn't be very clean if i were in charge. she remembers birthdays. that kind of thing.
i don't know. i think i do a lot. i'm very involved in my sons' lives, though in a very fatherly role, i think.
a show depicting a dad as ill-skilled to handle taking care of the house doesn't bother me either way.
i can honestly say that one of the last things i care about is what people think of me as a father, meaning i don't care when people try to make me feel like i'm a bad one.
if a guy wants to act on tv like he's incapable of basic tasks, it probably won't be very stimulating.
i'm sure the marketplace of ideas will settle the matter.
e+
Yop. Ok, I see what y'all are saying. (and for YP, error corrected.)
Perhaps I'm more sensitive to this issue than I should be. One of those, "If you have such strong feelings then perhaps you are insecure in your position" kinda things.
Hubby is a SAHD. He's great with the kids, although different than how *I* would be were I a SAHM. My mantra for lo these past five years has been, "Just because he does things differently doesn't mean he's doing things wrong." He is, however, pathetic at housework. But, according to another mantra I've had to repeat on occassion, "I'd rather he be paying attention to the kids instead of the chores."
Notice the need for mantras. I am obviously not entirely at peace with this arrangement, but I do know that it is what is best for us at this stage of our lives. So, any mainstream attempt to farcify (is that a word?) my situation does make me rather defensive.
Thanks for the reality check. But I still think it may do Dads a disservice.
my wife tells me that, while she thinks i don't clean enough, if i ever tried to exert any kind of power over cleaning,take a leadership role, we would clash.
interesting how that works.
e+
hehe =)
Post a Comment
<< Home