Someone Who Shall Remain Nameless: So are you still being Mr. Mom?
Me: You know, the term “Dad” works just fine.
I feel you, 1980s Michael Keaton.
Sure, I could have just let it go. I could have replied, “Yes, I am still being Mr. Mom.” thus avoiding the awkward pause that ensued. Don’t take it personally, I used to tell myself. It’s just a (tired, lame, unfunny) joke. But this terminology is pinned on me often and I have recently decided I am done with just letting it go.
It’s not that I feel emasculated wrangling the Twins all week. I challenge any “man’s man” who thinks stay-at-home parenting is for sissies to actually try it for one day. (In fact, I imagine it could make for a thoroughly entertaining reality show, with each episode culminating in a grown man sobbing.) It’s definitely not easy, but at the same time it’s also the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. Many fathers would jump at the opportunity to spend as much time with their children as I do, especially at this age. I blinked when they were eight months old and was suddenly thrown into a DeLorean which promptly accelerated to 88 miles per hour, traversing space and time to today, as I open my eyes and find them eleven months old. Until I can get the Flux Capacitor to flux again, I make an effort each day to take it all in (and document it in HD) because I know how fleeting babyhood is.
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Posted in Family, Humor, Hyperreality, Parenting, SAHD, Stay At Home Dad, Twins
Tags: "boofer", "They grow up so fast.", 11 months old, 88 miles per hour, anatomy, baba, Baby Talk Latin, Back to the Future, bottle, car, children, choice of words, Christopher Lloyd, cooking, crying, cute-ify, cuteness, daughter, DeLorean, diaper, diaper bag, diapies, dishwashing, documentarian, documentation, Don't take it personally, drawing the line, duty (hahaha you said "duty"), emasculation, envy, euphemism, falsetto, family, fart, father of twins, Flux Capacitor, gender, gender roles, HD, homemaking, homemaking the hell out of it, It's just a joke, joke, June Cleaver, language acquisition, laundry, Leave it to Beaver, Man Card, man's man, manhood, Michael J. Fox, Micheal Keaton, movie reference, Mr. Mom, my children are smarter than everyone else's, my dad, my mom, my parents, my prerogative, nerd glasses, nerds, new parent, nomenclature, open-minded, pee standing up, phrases, pink, pink clothing, princess, purse, read, reading, reality tv, SAHD, sarcasm, school, scientific proof, scientific research, Shakespeare-caliber vocalizations, sissy, snark, sobbing, sockies, socks, stay at home dad, storytime, tangent, terminology, Textbook Parenting Enthusiast, The King's English, The Only Adult in the Room Most of the Time, The Research, time machine, time-travel, twin-wrangling, twins, uncomfortable, urination, vehicle, William Shakespeare
