 The other day, my partner, our son and I met up with a friend of mine for a coffee. While we were chatting, we were both juggling our one-year-old, who wasn't particularly enjoying being asked to sit still while the adults got on with their conversation. So we took it in turns to amuse him, passing him back and forth as we both tried to eat something and engage in the topics being discussed. It's a routine many other parents will recognise, and one that we do without thinking for the most part. However, what was strange was that at one point, when my partner got up to use the toilet and my friend leant over and said to me: 'Gosh, isn't he so good with him!' That's right, my husband was 'so good' with our son. Taken aback slightly, but not at all surprised – this is far from the first time this has happened – I did my best to smile through slightly gritted teeth, and say: 'Yes, he's a good dad'. This interaction played on my mind over the next couple of days. I wondered if, in a parallel universe, my partner's friends would ever lean over to him in a similar context to comment on how good I am with our son. To comment positively on my parenting skills as his mother. I couldn't imagine a scenario in which this would or could ever happen. Why? Because being a woman and mother carries an expectation that you are engaged and attentive with your child; anything else would be the subject of much social scorn. But for a man — who, by the way, was just as proactive in our decision to have a child — to demonstrate the same behaviour? Novel! Admirable! So very sweet! In case you're wondering why a seemingly innocuous and well-meaning comment caused me such consternation, the answer is quite simple. Yes, he is a fantastic father, but so, too am I a wonderful mother. And only one of us is getting routinely praised in public for tha){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
The other day, my partner, our son and I met up with a friend of mine for a coffee.
While we were chatting, we were both juggling our one-year-old, who wasn’t particularly enjoying being asked to sit still while the adults got on with their conversation.
So we took it in turns to amuse him, passing him back and forth as we both tried to eat something and engage in the topics being discussed. It’s a routine many other parents will recognise, and one that we do without thinking for the most part.
However, what was strange was that at one point, when my partner got up to use the toilet and my friend leant over and said to me: ‘Gosh, isn’t he so good with him!’ That’s right, my husband was ‘so good’ with our son.