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.

One of my good friends was pretty much the stay at home dad for the first couple of years because his wife just made so much more money than him. He was brilliant at it, but I'm sure he got a lot of shit about it because they live in Southern Missouri. And he's a total dude's dude, so I can't imagine how much more shit he would have gotten from some of his caver friends (some of whom are complete liberals, some of whom are truly, living in the 19th century.)

So it's all this amazing thing when guys stay home with the kids, but women who do the same thing? Taken for granted.

ION, I totally fell down while leaving the school today. In front of about a zillion students, some of whom were mine, including one of the brattiest kids.

I fall down all the time, so one the one hand, I'm not embarassed, but on the other....it was my students! I looked like a drunk rodent!