But what “Dad’s babysitting tonight” and “Your wife is so fortunate to have a helper like you” does is unconsciously undermine who men are as parents. Babysitters and helpers don’t know their children. Babysitters and helpers don’t have to stick around. Babysitters and helpers don’t make decisions about what to do with the kid who’s getting beat up in school or how to handle the not-turning-in-homework conundrum and where to put the baby until he’s sleeping through the night.
My husband and I are fortunate enough to split our days down the middle. We do things differently as parents, though we share the same core philosophies. The kids know what to expect when one of us takes over the parenting shift. They know that I don’t like a lot of noise, so if they want to wrestle or play freeze tag, they better do it out back. They know their dad doesn’t care about noise as much as I do, so they know they can play music through the loudspeakers and talk over the music if they want. They know their dad makes them read stories in the home library while I prefer they read in their rooms with me, on my lap. They know they can probably get away with some things that I would never tolerate when their father is on duty , and vice versa. We have different preferences because we’re different people. Our kids adjust accordingly.
But just because we do things differently doesn’t mean I’m a better parent than he is. It doesn’t mean he has no idea what he’s doing. In my house, Dad knows what to do when a kid stubs his toe on the curb, and he knows where the school papers belong (recycling or keep-it-forever?), and he knows how to read a story so a 3-year-old will pay attention. He knows how to teach kids about multiplication tables and metaphors and the proper way to dance “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),” and the deeper things, like love and honor and respect and grit and perseverance and identity.
It seems that we’ve traveled a little too far down this path of Dad as the joke, Dad as little more than useless, Dad as a bungling idiot. It’s time to change this perception, too.
I know men who don’t have sole custody of their kids, and they want nothing more than to be more than a babysitter. I know men who stay at home while their wives work full-time, and they want nothing more than to be seen as competent caregivers. I know men who are serious about their parenting and just want to be seen as responsible dads.
Dads know what they’re doing, society.
We should let them do it.
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This article originally appeared at RachelToalson.com.
