This dad is adding years to his life.

Do you ever get the feeling that there are too many studies out there? I do. And on any other day, the results from a recent one conducted by PruHealth would have solidified my opinion. The United Kingdom-based insurer has found that working parents feel older than parents who stay at home.

I mean, that’s a no-brainer, right? Surely it’s harder to parent when you have less time to do it. And things that are harder are more stressful than things that are easier. And stress robs us of our energy and vitality which makes us feel older. So in that regard, the results shouldn’t be all that surprising, right?

Wrong. Because as any stay-at-home parent will tell you, keeping the kids all day is anything but easy.

And I was reminded of that fact yesterday when my wife took my daughters to see the Nutcracker. She claims they went for fun, but I think Caroline had to be there. You know, being the understudy to the title role and all. (Kidding honey!) So I was left in charge of my two 3 year-old boys. And just like each and every time I’m alone with some or all of my kids, yesterday was hard. Continue reading »

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With the economic crunch pinching families everywhere, a lot of stay at home parents have taken the plunge back into paying work. The road from baby meet-ups to board meetings is especially challenging for stay-at-home dads, the Wall Street Journal reports.

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Is the nuclear family over?

If it’s not, it’s certainly changing, says the British Families and Parenting Institute. A recently issued report found that parents are increasingly seeking help from grandparents, aunts and uncles as they deal with changes and setbacks in their own lives. “Families were pulling society in multiple directions, between work and home life, singleness and cohabitation and marriage, between growing older and forming families across our many cultural divides,” according to executive director of the institute Dr. Katherine Rake. Soon, she adds, there will be no one typical family structure. Continue reading »

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One of the very many things that makes me happy I am living in this era versus the early 1960s (at least as presented on “Mad Men”) is that fathers are expected to take an active role in childcare — and the icky diaper-changing nose-wiping stuff, too, not just playing with your clean, bathed children for an hour before bedtime. I even can think of four stay-at-home dads I personally know without even having to strain my memory.

But the culture is pretty slow to change around us. This NPR essay by Richard Weissbourd talks about being relegated to the role of secondary parent, that his wife is pretty much expected to know all and take responsibility for all, while he’s treated like an adjunct.

Weissbourd points out, for example, that schools rarely send report cards to fathers after a divorce Continue reading »

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Move over, women, there’s a new mom in town. He may go by the name “Dad,” but really? He’s Mommy.

Men parents have been encroaching on mom’s turf for some time now, but this year it seems to have reached a critical mass.

Let’s start with the research. Dad gains weight and experiences mood swings during pregnancy just like his pregnant wife — the original mom. Studies also show that Dad doesn’t value  himself as a parent, which is such a self-deprecating and motherly thing to do. Continue reading »

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