The daddy difference, part 1

Sometimes I'm asked if there are any repercussions with my son since I'm the one who stays home, rather than his mom. I have to admit, I don't know any other dads who stay home with their kids, work a job from home via the Internet, and who take care of the homeschooling chores.

But after almost six years at it, I don't see much of a problem. My son is able to understand the reasons for Mommy going to work, and he's able to see the advantage of having one parent at home to do everything from chase him around the house and play games with him to teach him number skills and reading. As a parent, I'm a little ambivalent about the whole daycare scenario. Like good parents and bad parents, there are good and bad daycares. Everyone does the best they can under the circumstances, and the kids are almost always resilient enough to withstand the best of intentions. :-)

Something I had thought about was the possibility of a disconnect with his mom, but that has not been the case at all. On the contrary, if he had to make a choice of which parent to spend time with, if he could only be with one for whatever reason, he always starts out picking Mom. That stings sometimes, but I understand the different kind of bond that children have with their moms. I felt the same about mine, but she was a stay-at-home mom. I would have thought the preference thing would work in reverse, but that has definitely not been the case in our home.