Reply to Dads at the playground

Forum Index » General Parenting Discussion

Reply to "Dads at the playground"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My kids are 8 and 6. I see more and more involved dads as time goes on. I still mostly see moms. But it does seem like the percentage of dads taking their kids places is increasing. I think it’s a combination of more parents remote working/being home more and more moms having more demanding careers and also a lot of divorced or never married parents who take turns w custody. But I also think people in general tend to notice more when a dad is out with kids than when a mom is. You don’t see all the moms because you’re on the lookout for dads.

It also has to do w when you go. In the evenings and weekends? A lot of dads tend to be out w kids. During the weekdays, it’s typically more moms and grandparents and other caregivers.

But don’t base involvement over who takes kids to the playground only. Who takes kids to the Dr? Who is volunteering at school? Who is attending PTA meetings? Who is the one who sends you their bday party invite or RSVPs to your kid’s party? Who do you contact to schedule play dates? In my experience all those things I just listed are 99/100 moms/female caregivers.[/quote]

This is a good take. My DH likes taking the kids to the playground specifically because it's a fairly passive activity most of the time. They play with each other or with other kids, he stands nearby and looks at his phone or reads a book. He likes being outside. Also, as a dad, I think the social experience at the playground is better. Moms there have no expectation that he will be friendly or talk to them (though if I went, some moms would expect this of me), and if there are other dads there, men tend to have lower social expectations of each other generally. So playground time is basically a break for him.

Also, unless it's my birthday or mothers day, if my DH is at the playground with our kids, I am generally (1) working, (2) sick, (3) cleaning. Or doing a one-off activity like decorating for a birthday party or packing for a trip or something. Other than on my birthday, I can't think of a situation where my DH taking the kids to the playground resulted in me getting to relax or sleep or just do something for me.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics