"Mr. Mom"

Remember the blog when I proclaimed to be a feminist? Yeah, lets go ahead and expand on that principle, shall we? Also, I am about to vent - so be prepared!

Can we go ahead and get rid of the term, "Mr. Mom?" Also, when a child's father watches the child without the mother present can we go ahead and not call it "babysitting?"

In our house, my husband typically handles daycare drop-off and pick-up, preparing dinner, and shares the responsibility of feeding and changing Ella.  We switch on and off on those last ones. But, when he is performing these parenting tasks (almost daily), he is not being "Mr. Mom." He is parenting our child. He is being daddy. 

Also, when I happen to leave the house outside of work hours by myself and I leave Ella and Aaron at home together - he is not babysitting his own child. He is parenting her. Which, I might add, he is a FANTASTIC parent. Sometimes I feel like he handles being alone with Ella better than I do. 

50-60 years ago the roles of a mother and father were very different. Very few mothers held jobs, and fathers were much more hands-off. So, I do understand the term and why it became a part of our vernacular. But, these days 71% of mothers work outside of the home. Men and women typically share responsibilities of keeping up the household. 

So, enough with these horribly outdated and sexist terms - lets just all be the best parents we can be for our children. 

But, if you want, you can call me "Mrs. Dad." :)