fathers

All people have their fun or er, habits, but some change their ways once they enter parenthood or become hush about their vices. New papa Pete Wentz was expecting his bundle of joy Bronx when he opened up about his prescription pill popping habits to Blender Magazine. The article said:

Wentz sets his sunglasses on the table and picks up the menu. Truth be told, he doesn’t look great. Dark bags ring his eyes, and his skin has a waxy, jaundiced pallor. He says he sleeps three hours a night—sometimes less—and pops Ambien like Tropical Skittles. “I can take three Xanax bars and not feel a thing,” he says. “It’s kind of scary.”

What's your opinion on this disclosure?
Source

Like most of the country, I have been glued to the Olympic coverage. In the wee hours of Friday morning, I watched 18–year–old American Nastia Liukin earn the title as the third American woman to win the all around gold medal for the US. Holding my breath and grinding my teeth with every approach she made, I rooted her on. But nobody wanted it more than her dad.

Twenty years ago, her father and coach, Valeri Liukin, won two gold medals for the Soviet Union at the 1988 Olympics. He fell short of winning the overall gold medal in the individual competition by one tenth of a point to a fellow countryman. Interestingly enough, one of the commentators for NBC said that papa is known for saying, "Second is the worst on the world; only one color works for this family." Talk about pressure. After she won the gold, he said:

She fix my mistakes. . . I lose by one-tenth of a point to Vladimir, but she fix that.

Luckily she won the medal for herself, her parents and America. I hope this lil lady doesn't let daddy forget who brought home the gold.
Source

Women have their Mommy friends, but what about dads? Fathers may be taking a bigger role in raising their offspring, but many are still given the once over by mom cliques at the playground. One group of work-from-home dads in New York started a get together on their own terms — far from the sandbox and without tots in tow.

The men whose children attend P.S. 234 have formed a breakfast club and the characters don't even slightly resemble Emilio Estevez and Molly Ringwald. The New York Times reported that these men — a photographer, a sculptor, a screenwriter — who have been breaking toast over eggs and bacon for the past four years have nannies, housekeepers and high powered wives. The gathering is a way for the men to chat about current issues, cars and kids. It said:

But the dads have no compunction about taking a leisurely break from diapering and spending some of the family’s hard-earned money in the process. “All these fathers are actually really good fathers,” said Mr. Katz, who recently oversaw the birth of his fourth son (and made it to breakfast with the guys 14 hours later). “We do more parenting than our type-A wives and feel we’re justified.”

Would you encourage your husband to participate in this kind of a group?
Source

Women are expected to leave the office when they have a baby, but what happens when a father does? A New York Times article reported that while 160,000 men have left the workforce to care for their children, they have a hard time filling in the gaps on their resumes when they attempt a career comeback. It said:

Acceptance of returning fathers “seems to be generational,” said Brian Reid, 33, who in 2002 founded RebelDad.com, a site about the “stay-at-home dad trend.” “It makes dads nervous knowing that they are not likely to be interviewed by a peer, who gets this, but by a 55-year-old middle manager, who might have a wife or a daughter who has left the workplace and come back, but who doesn’t understand it in a man.”

It's this social stigma that has many fathers taking up freelance or part time jobs so they can continue to build their work history while raising their tots. Other dads volunteer or go back to school for additional degrees so they can continue to talk business with their peers and be taken seriously. While being a stay-at-home dad is a full time job, some employers dismiss it as little more than a trip to the playground.
Source