Episode 044: So, 2012 Was Great

This week’s episode covers some of the awesome stories written by other fathers around the internets for the week leading up to February 5th, 2013: Being A Father Makes You Better At Your Job / Does Being A Stay-At-Home Dad Make One “Emasculated”? No. Now Stop Asking, Please

Check out the audio only version of this episode above.

There’s got to be some reason why all these career-driven dads are staying home with the kids. Were they laid off, forced out of work because of the mancession? Did they eschew traditional office work to write memoirs and blogs? Are they trying to give their fathers’ old fashioned work ethic the finger?

Nope. They’re just — as it turns out — happier at home.

Want to read the rest? Click the logo above to read on…

Salon‘s got an article up about stay/work at home dads, mentioning that even though the experience and conditions have certainly changed, the old expectations of Michael Keaton’s Mr. Mom still persist.

Some of the best parts of this article, however, take on the idea of gender expectations of men and emotional conflicts between a working-out-of-home father and a stay at home father. A Minnesota father named Russ mentions that “if more men stayed home with their children, they’d be getting their wives a lot less pregnant.” Very possible.

There’s also some talk in the article of discrimination from parent groups, which happens more than you’d think.

Also, the article mentions one of our BFFs, Canadian Dad, who we’d also mentioned recently too.

We don’t want to ruin the ending of the article – but let’s just say that the author, Mary Elizabeth Williams, says that staying home with your kids is awesome, whether you’re a man or woman. “A father, even a father who doesn’t go into an office, is not a babysitter,” says Williams. “He is not Mr. Mom. He is Mr. Dad.”

Score! Check out Salon for the rest of the story.

(photo affectionately stolen from Flickr user Michael-A)

The U.S. Census Bureau found that fathers acting as primary caregivers to children under 15 now represent 32% of households – which is a 6% jump from 2002. For dads with preschool-aged kids, the census found that 1-in-5 are the primary caregiver.

There have been a lot of stories this holiday season about single fathers and stay-at-home fathers, all trying to get to the bottom of why fathers would choose to be at home with their kids.

Meanwhile, the media has started using the term “mancession” and everyone’s tickled pink about using it. Also, be on the lookout for “dadcession.” And finally, “fatherecession.” I just made up that last one, don’t look for it anywhere.

Episode 009: Meat For The Wolves

This week’s episode covers the following stories on 8bitdad.com for the week of November 27th, 2011: PQotW – Do You Buy Age-Inappropriate Toys for Your Kid?; Daughter Trolls Dad On TV During Saints Game;  Tide’s Stay-at-Home-Dad Commercial Didn’t Fall on Deaf Ears; WIRED’s GeekDad Reviews 5 Classic “Best Toys of All Time”; Oh Noes! Kentucky Father Leaves Baby in Shopping Cart