Conversation, ideas and events for parents in Santa Rosa and Sonoma County
Gavin Newsom's perils in fatherhood
This made me laugh. It looks like Gavin Newsom, Lt. Gov. of California (and former Mayor of San Francisco) is playing Mr. Mom while his wife is away. This is what he wrote as his Facebook status update today:
The Joys of Fatherhood! My wife is traveling for a fews days and she asked this morning, "How are the kids?"
Hunter (1 1/2) coughing and crying at 4:15 am. I go into his room and he starts climbing out of crib. I pick him up, try to put him back in the crib, he refuses. Bring him into our room, where he flops around, finds my phone and plays Les Miserables. Throws the phone behind bed where the song replayed for an hour until Montana (3) joins in on the fun at 5:30 am. They fight for prime seating on bed until Hunter has enough and decides he wants to go downstairs. We, of course, follow him since Montana keeps repeating that her stomach is "crumbling" (not grumbling). We have cereal which Hunter pushes over on the couch, where we stupidly sit. I try to feed Hunter his bottle but forgot to warm it so he is upset. The sitter arrives after we change diapers (of course), but not before I couldn't find any cleans ones and Montana offers up hers. I am now on my way to work, half dazed wondering if all of that actually happened or if it was a dream!
LOL! Would your home fall apart if you left daddy alone and in charge of the kids?
Tags: Gavin Newsom, leaving dad in charge, parenting
Views: 2034
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Zoe Neely on -
Sounds like almost every morning of my life for a year or so. :-)
But my husband is very capable with the kids and can handle them just fine without me. He's been feeding, changing diapers and bathing since day one.
Cereal for toddlers on the couch?! C'mon...
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Permalink Reply by Crissi Langwell on -
I know, he almost asked for that disaster.....
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Permalink Reply by Joe Manthey on -
Hi Crissi - The term "Mr. Mom" rubs me the wrong way as when we as a culture opened options for our daughters to enter the work force, human resource divisions educated men to not just force women into becoming imitation men, but to value women’s unique contributions to work. As we open options for our sons to raise children, we need to work with both our sons and daughters to not just turn our sons into imitation mothers, but to value our sons’ unique contributions to parenting. And children need both parenting styles.
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Permalink Reply by Crissi Langwell on
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Joe, sorry you're offended. It was in no way a slight against men. If anything, it was more like a nod towards the popular 80's movie "Mr. Mom," when the dad was pitted against one mishap after another when taking over the duties his wife usually did. Since Mr. Newsom is likely very busy with his political career, it is likely that the majority of these duties do fall on his wife's shoulders. And because Mr. Newsom was suffering a similar fate as the original "Mr. Mom," the term seemed fitting.
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Permalink Reply by Joe Manthey on
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I was not "offended," just put off. While I did not see the movie I'm told that it depicted fathers as buffoons - Just like Newsom's self-deprecating Facebook entry. In any event, my problem with the "Mr. Mom" phrase is that it implies that there is only one style of parenting: the female style. I have the same problem with "nuturing" only being defined in traditionally female terms when men tend to "nuture" in differend ways than women.
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Permalink Reply by Zoe Neely on
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I've seen "Mr. Mom" so I know that the reference fits in perfectly with how Gavin Newsome described his morning. Since you didn't see the movie and are only going by hearsay, I'll give you my opinion: the dad was not a buffoon, he was just a fish out of water and it took some trial and error before he got the hang of being the stay-at-home parent. His wife took on the role of breadwinner and you will see that it took her some time to get used to the corporate role and demands of fulltime employment.
This isn't about parenting or nurturing styles but about taking on a new role and the funny things that happen. From reading your other posts here it seems that your goal is to find any excuse to be put off by any comment that you can construe as negating the role or competency of fathers. Is there a webboard, like "Angry Dads R Us", that instructs you to troll other boards and attempt to stir up controversy where none exists? Gavin Newsome's FB post does not, in any rational way, insult or degrade the role of fathers. He was simply poking fun at his lack of experience. Crissi's comment was totally appropriate.
Red herring, anyone? Your agenda is showing, Mr. Manthey.
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Permalink Reply by John Robot on -
Hahahaha! That's the real story of every family with infants. They make you laugh and make you up-down. Though its irritating sometimes but still parents enjoy this.
Sitters are good but they can take care only in their working hours. So, night is all yours and your tie in your kid's hand.
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