Aimee, you're ahead of me. I've been averaging one book a day with Annabel lately. Though I read to her more when she was younger and not able to roam around the room and entertain herself.

In related news, I was just whistling "Over the Hills and Far Away" (probably inspired by my search for a Sharpe theme for the laptop desktop) last time Annabel wandered by and tried to take over the keyboard. I sing all the time, but whistle less frequently. She loved it. Grinned, bounced up and down, gave me the "Do that AGAIN, Mama" look.

We have a friend in Michigan that was positively scandalized when I said that MM wanted to be a stay at home dad and that I supported that. She couldn't believe it. Hell, he's so good with Em that I trust him to stay home almost more than I trust myself.

Who ever heard of a woman borrowing a kid (even on a sitcom) to appear more attractive to guys?

This got a snort loud enough for my boss to check on me.

Though I read to her more when she was younger and not able to roam around the room and entertain herself.

I think this is why she's getting read to so much. She's awake, not sleepy, and I still feel guilty for just setting her down. So, I read to her. Right now, it's more to asuage my guilt than to stimulate her.

Learning through guilt. Ahhh....

Gud, if that came across as smartass, well (a) I hope it made you chuckle, and (b) all I really meant was, maybe you just need to read it, and see if you believe it, or if it's at least worth further investigation.

Honestly, I'm pretty much investigating for the sake of my wife. I haven't so much changed my beliefs as seen, with more exposure to the Chruch, Bible, and Christian literature, that I cannot call myself a Christian just because I was sort of raised in the Methodist chruch. Of course this leads to the oddness of having a Deist preparing church brochures and running the chruch's website, but I still want to support my wife even if I don't believe the same things.

Is this something you want to have a conversation about, or are you just sort of venting?

t disappears to put in some billable time

I can't do much more than vent time-wise. Posting soaks up a lot of time.

Hee. It does. It's a sponge. I am coming down with something, and so that was today's excuse for pouring so much time in here. Wonder what I'll come up with, tomorrow.

(I already read 4 books to her every morning after first feeding and one at night.)

That's plenty. Way more than most kids get at that age.

I've been a parent for 8+ years now and it is my observation that most families (I know personlly) break down so that the mom does about 65%-85% of the parenting. So it's far from equitable. However, there are a whole lot of things that go with that. A lot of Moms I know, are gate-keepers in one way or another. They're possessive of the kids, you hear a lot of "You're not doing it right" and putting the dad in a position of First Assistant Parent. Also, far more many women than men do the Stay-at-home thang. Which is no picnic, but the option is often more available and culturally sanctioned.