the truth about life as a househusband

[foundintranslation]

Guardian article
I really liked this article. What do you think?

yes I liked it. it was mercifully free of the usual crap you find in these articles - no whinging, no "look how fabulous I am" selfcongratulation... I think he hit the right balance between a realistic assessment of how hard it is, and an appreciation of how lucky he is.

He's got it just about spot on hasn't he - especially the "no Friday evenings in the pub" bit - that's what I miss most. Househusband is such a crappy term though - it implies kept man. I'm contributing to the family in a non-financial yet equally important way, ergo am not 'kept.' Most househusbands prefer homedad.

Who's this aimed at do you think?

Think his next career should be -writer.

But isn't he just saying the same as many many other female writers?

from the description of their family life, i think his partner had a regular column in the guardian about the first year of their son's life.

I think his partner is the former ed of the Guardian parenting page, actually. Not certain, but think so.

lol mi!

ooooooh hoxty we are as one....

He sounds lovely, I want one.

Good article. Hit exactly the right tone. I was waiting to get irritated all the way through, and it didn't happen.

Yes very good article.

My DP would love to be a househusband, he would make a good one too as he loves being with the kids (probably more than me ) and he's quite good at cleaning too. I don't think I could work full time though whilst he was househusband as I love taking the kids to school and finding out how they are getting on.

It makes me smile though how when sometimes he has the day off to look after the kids as I am working and the kids have a fun filled day and I come home to a lovely clean house - its bliss

Yes, it was very good, I'm not denying that. But it struck me as a kind of validation from a male perspective. What that may mean I don't know. Maybe we still need it.

I have a friend at church who is a full time SAHD to 4 kids - the youngest just turned 2, and the oldest is 13.

He says it's fine during term time (apart from the school runs to 3 different schools) it was the half term that did his head in LOL.

it is different from a man's perspective though isn't it, so newsworthy? we had this discussion on here a time ago, to do with single sex schools. I said that I thought they were unnatural, and a couple of posters pointed out that as a SAHM you were almost exclusively in a women only environment, most of the time. That must be quite a culture shock for most men I would say. and completely off putting for many.
and of course the fact that it still goes against cultural conventions etc.

AHHH brought a lump to my throat!
Thought his last line was evry touching.

Loved the lines "This is the (extended) gap year that I never took; I'm travelling emotionally, if not geographically. I'm learning about myself, developing the patience and sympathy that I never even thought I lacked." - that's very much how I feel about being a SAHM and completely resonated with me.