I guess that this may not be the best way to introduce my new blog, Peter Pan’s (that’d be me) Life in Rant (peterpan.today.com), but it is necessary to disseminate this unfortunate incident, and what better medium than my new blog?
Before begin my crusade against cnn.com/money and all the other dad-haters out there, let me introduce myself and give a basic outline of what this blog is supposed to be (please forgive me if it occasionally drifts, but that’s part of the point). My name is John Lindsay (NOT the NYC mayor of old), I am a graduate of Oregon State University, so you can expect some PAC10 love and at least a little “Go Beavs” now and again. My wife, Ronda, and I married in 2003 after a wonderful courtship that included beach trips, Beavers games, and the New Morning Bakery in Corvallis, Oregon. I spent the next 3 years in the United States Army Band (389th, AMC’s OWN) in which I was fortunate (not a typo) to deploy twice to the Middle East. I am now living in beautiful New Braunfels, TX, serving in the Texas Army National Guard, and attending graduate school (History) at Texas State University. Ronda and I are expecting our first child, a boy who we plan to name Aidric John Lindsay, in late July. I am planning to lighten my class load and be a stay at home dad, since Ro is our primary bacon-bringer-homer, and in light of this, I have found that there is some thinly veiled hostility toward dads who want to be dads. I intend this to be a place of enlightened conversation for Dads and families, men with extremely varied interests, and anyone interested in the things that interest me..I guess we’ll see if you’re out there. So to sum up, this is basically your state-of-the-art, never-want-to-grow-up, stay-at-home-dad blog. On to more important things…

So, as I was sitting down after a long day of procrastinating (which is obviously continuing) getting ready to write a paper for a history in public memory class (if you’re interested, email me…it is pretty interesting), I made one last attempt to not do what I was supposed to be doing. I was browsing through the headlines at cnn.com, as my eyes ran over the tagline for the article that has irked me so…

Moms’ new battle: The food price bulge

Beyond clipping coupons, families are embracing generic grocery brands, and making their own baby food and detergent.

My first thought upon reading this was that they couldn’t possibly be taking this journalistic stance in the 21st century. Not after feminism, and womens rights and whatnot, right?

WRONG.

This article has taken the view that men do not exist in their families lives. I’m not saying that this is completely wrong, as I am sure that there are plenty of families where the dad doesn’t take part in the child responsibilities, and leaves it all up to mom. But in our day and age, it seems EXTREMELY short sighted to simply assume that moms are the only ones doing the shopping. In my (childless for another 3 months) family, Ronda and I share the shopping chores, the household chores, everything. If at one time this could be labeled “girl stuff,” that time is long past. Part of having a loving, solid relationship with my wife, involved being partners, in EVERYTHING. including the shopping.

So, yes. I have seen the prices go up at the grocery store. But apparently, I’m not supposed to care, cause men don’t shop.

Armin A. Brott, author of The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips, and Advice for Dads-to-Be, warns dads (especially stay at home fathers that expectations of gender roles, though much more advanced than they were 30 years ago, still put the dad in the workplace above all else. He places the blame on traditional fathers from past generations, noting that these roles have been enforced by society.

Instead of just ranting, I’m going to give some tips to dads who want to be more involved, but are fearful facing such tough societal expectations. (From Brott’s book)

• Get off your butt: If you don’t start taking the initiative, you’ll never be able to assume the child-rearing responsibilities you want.
• Get some practice: Don’t assume that your partner magically knows more than you do. Whatever she knows about raising kids, she’s learned by doing - just like anything else. Research has shown that fathers are at least as affectionate with their children as their partners are.
• Get involved in the day-to-day decisions that affect your kids’ lives: Make a special effort to DO THE SHOPPING, share in the responsibilities, change diapers, plan meals, cook, go to the park, etc…
• Communicate with your partner: If you’d like to be doing more, you need to be able to tell your partner, in a gentle way. She may be bogart-ing the kid time, and not even realize it (Women are just as subject to societal pressures as men are..). Women have the traditional role of child-rearing, and until men step up to do their part consistently, women will continue to face workplace discrimination based on this gender role.

I can’t believe that CNN would be forwarding such a conservative, backward, old school idea of gender roles. The New York Times would be ashamed, but Fox News, well, that’s for another blog…

TO see the original article

http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/21/news/economy/moms_foodshopping/index.htm?eref=rss_topstories