Moms Versus Dads: What Moms Can Learn From Dads

For some strange reason, a rivalry has sprung up among parents as to which one is the better parent—Mom or Dad. Unfortunately, this has caused nothing but angst and arguments, as moms try to get dad to do things “her” way and dads stay content to be regulated to the “buddy” status.

Used to be that moms stayed home with the kids and dads went to work, thus ensuring that most of the child-rearing fell on the female parent. But a new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data has found a growing trend for fathers to stay home with the kids.

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Pew Research found that the number of fathers who are at home with their children for any reason has nearly doubled since 1989, when 1.1 million were in this category. It reached its highest point—2.2 million—in 2010, just after the official end of the recession, which spanned from 2007 to 2009. Since that time, the number has fallen slightly, driven mainly by declines in unemployment.

This week, I’m going to talk about what moms can learn from dads. Next week, we’ll tackle what dads can learn from moms.

What Moms Can Learn From Dads

1. Trivia is just trivia. In other words, matching outfits aren’t that important. Sometimes, we as moms focus on things that truly don’t matter much in the entire scheme of things. Dads get this instinctively, in that they’re less likely to fret of the outfit is on backwards, the sock don’t match or the boy is wearing his sister’s t-shirt.
2. It’s is the thought that counts. At times, we are more consumed with the details of how something—a game, a party, an event—happens that we miss enjoying the sentiment behind the thing. This is why we sometimes get annoyed if the counter isn’t wiped off but the dishes are done (guilty!).
3. The boring stuff can wait more than we think. As mothers, we often are driven to clean, cook, and organize to the extent that we forget to slow down and enjoy the kids and situation. Dads are really good at this (read: sometimes, too good!), but we should take a page from their laid-back book and realize there should be times when the dishes stay unwashed and the carpet unvaccumed so that we can do something with our families.
4. The kids will be all right. We sometimes obsess with how our parenting decisions will impact our children, we replay conversations in our minds to dissect how they could have gone “better,” and we basically get a little crazy about things our children do or don’t do. But dads, on the other hand, generally roll with the punches and seem to realize that no matter what we do or don’t do as parents, the kids will be all right.

What do you think are some things mothers can learn from fathers?

Until next time,

Sarah