“So I’ve experienced being a stay-at-home-Dad-ish for two years now.”

So I’ve experienced being a stay-at-home-Dad-ish for two years now. And I really appreciate it. I like what it has given me. I like that I can bond with my son a lot more. But like all things, it comes with negatives as well. The first thing is so people have always warned me about playing with my son on a playground now. Other people will not appreciate a single man in a playground. Fortunately, I’ve not experienced any of that, except for once and that wasn’t much. Perhaps people glare at me that I don’t notice, but I don’t think people really judge me on a playground playing with my son. I do think if I weren’t near him, however, people would wonder what is this man in his thirties doing in a playground reading a book on a bench. So I’ve always consciously made a choice to play near him, but I haven’t really experienced that much in parks. I have experienced, however, particularly when my son was — the first two years of his life, lots of — people who are trying to mean well, who are trying to compliment, but gender issues generally weren’t the same in their generation, cuz these people are typically older — have commented typical lines of “Oh, I guess it’s Daddy Daycare day today” or “Oh, it’s — you’re on daycare duty today.” I get that a lot. Or “Oh, it’s so nice to see a dad taking care of his son.” That’s a much less offensive thing, that’s certainly nice to hear. But it’s still a surprise for especially the older generation. I get a lot of comments when I explain to people what I’m doing. “Oh Mr. Mom.” And I’m not really one to be focused on gender. I don’t really care so much, but it does get old after a while and it’s interesting to see the perspectives.