Understanding the Pressures on Your Husband
by Susie Michelle Cortright
Article provided courtesy of MediaPeak, www.mediapeak.com
We hear a lot about the supermom syndrome,
but rarely about our superdads.
We place higher expectations on fathers in today's society than ever before.
Unlike previous generations, dads today are expected to take a proactive role
in caring for the children physically as well as financially.
Gone are the days when a man arrives home from work, loosens his tie, slips off
his shoes, and reclines in the Lazyboy with his newspaper, which he thumbs through
as he waits for his dinner to be served.
Today, many dads don't get that decompression time after a day at work. Some of
the dads pick up their children from daycare on their way home. Others are immediately
struck with the hassles of the day, while they struggle to make the instant transition
from professional to father.
As a stay-at-home mom, I have often wondered why my husband sits in the car for
a few moments after he pulls into the driveway. Until, that is, one day that my
husband watched our one-year-old, and it was my turn to come home exhausted from
a busy and hectic day. How I wished I had stayed in the car just long enough to
take a few deep breaths.
Today's dads, much like many of today's moms, must juggle the guilt of not spending
enough time with the family with the guilt of not giving it their all at work.
But women seem to have more support with their struggle. Magazine articles, support
groups, and websites warn moms of the risks of burning out and the importance
of taking care of themselves. They dole out advice on balancing life and relationships.
Fathers don't often band together like moms do.
Even while men are expected to independently take on a more nurturing role, they
are slammed in the media. We watch television shows that too often portrays fathers
as bumbling idiots, scared stiff of changing their own baby's diaper and incapable
of anything other than watching a ball game and slugging beer. We sit through
news reports of deadbeat dads and women who have beaten the odds despite, not
with the help of, the men in their lives.
As natural nurturers, women have long taken on the social stereotype of being
the dominant parent. Sometimes--and I hate to admit that I'm guilty of this, too--we
may subconsciously sabotage their parenting efforts to make ourselves feel more
important.
It's important for us to recognize that dads interact with children differently
than we do. These techniques are neither better nor worse. Just different. Dads
may tend to allow the child to reach a higher level of frustration than a mother
would, which may be an important lesson in resilience.
The role of a father serves an integral part in a child's life. Spending time
with both parents helps children develop an understanding of separation, transition,
autonomy, and gender roles.
Let us applaud all of the great dads out there, and all of the men who strive
to be great dads.
Here's to my husband, who would make a better stay-at-home parent than I. He is
much more patient and more experienced with children. He never gets bored, even
on the afternoon's eighth reading of Green Eggs and Ham.
In his downtime, he does a load of laundry and whips up a heaping platter of Beef
Stroganoff when all I see in the fridge is pickles and ketchup.
I'm going downstairs to interrupt Dr. Seuss and to tell him how much I appreciate
the work he does. Maybe it's time we all spent just a few minutes thinking about
the pressures on our husbands, and to applaud them for all the things they do.
Susie Michelle Cortright is the founder and publisher of Momscape, an online magazine devoted to nurturing the nurturers. Visit her at www.momscape.com, where you may read more inspiring articles and essays and subscribe to Momscape's online magazines.