Babysitting Dads

I’ve seen a positive shift in society where men are taking on more parenting and household responsibilities. That’s awesome. It’s time the rest of you get with the program.

Why? Because women take on too much unappreciated responsibility, that’s why. Not only are they expected to do everything Joan Cleaver has done, but many are also expected to work a paying job as well. Another grotesque manifestation of this attitude is that if the paying job is salaried, chances are womem will be earning only 70 cents for every dollar their male counterpart will earn doing the same job.

It’s no secret that men seem to value only the money the woman brings in, even though, as mentioned, women automatically get paid less than a man for doing the same amount of work. Your value is based on your pay scale! Cleaning or taking care of the kids doesn’t count. Neither does cooking. So, if you are a stay-at-home mom, none of your efforts have any value and you are taking your man’s money, despite Salary.com’s claim that a housewife’s equivalency salary would be $118,000.

To add insult to injury, when a man is taking care of his kids, he is “babysitting” them. If a man cleans a toilet once or occasionally cooks a meal, he expects praise for “helping out,” a detested phrase that insinuates all those chores are the woman’s responsibility.

Yes, if you are a dad who “helps out” by “babysitting” your kids, or if you are a husband who “helps out” by cleaning a toilet once, you are behind the times, pal. Get with the program. Like sitting on the couch and vegging? Well, so does your woman. Take half those chores…every day, not once-in-a-while…and finish them so that she may enjoy some time off as well.

And for land sakes, do not babysit your children. Parent them. You are their parent, aren’t you?