Well Parenting, according to the 8 page thread and the 3 page followup, I’d say you’ve angered a couple fathers out there.

One of the forum members, georgemax, brings up a very good point. The articles states: “31% of moms say their husbands don’t help with the chores.” So why didn’t they say 69% of moms say their husbands do help with the chores? And the rest of the article continues to bring up these poll figures, but fails to highlight the positive side of things. Which is odd considering that the positive side is twice as large as the negative poll opinions.

Is there a hidden agenda here? Did the author of the article recently have a bad outing with her partner and decided to bash all daddies? Considering that an article has to go through editors, management, etc. before the ink hits paper, I would have to guess that maybe the entire staff at Parenting hates us daddies.

How about a Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat? These sell for anywhere between $100-$150 depending on the model at Babies R Us. Somebody is selling it for $60. I can’t imagine how much spit up, pee, and poop have found its way onto it. No thanks.

MarvynAndMary.com was mentioned on Parenting.com by Lauren, a well known blogger with Parenting. She was doing some research about daddy blogging and who better to ask than me? Below is the full interview. What are your thoughts dads?

What is the difference between men blogger and women bloggers? Mom bloggers and dad bloggers?
I think the biggest difference I see is that mommy bloggers try to find the moral of the story whereas men tend to be less interpretive while focusing more on what’s in front of them and taking it at face value.

Do dads get frustrated that there is so much stuff for moms on the web? No boys allowed!?
I don’t think “frustrated” is the correct word, but I do at times have a hard time relating to mommy bloggers for various reasons like anatomy differences or just the whole 9 month “hangover”. Sure, I’ve seen my wife go through the joys and pains of pregnancy, but I can only speak as an observer. So it’s definitely a bit awkward to raise my hand and comment about my thoughts on other blogs.

How has fathering changed over the years, with more and more dads using the web?
I am a first time father, so I can only go as far back as one month. But I think the web is becoming a bigger tool in helping not only daddies, but mommies too as far as trying to find a pediatrician, what to look out for, etc. My only concern is that people may become too dependent on the web for answers and you never know how reliable information can be. My sports law professor once told me, “One idiot can say anything. Two idiots can share the same idea. But if three idiots are expressing the same opinion, then it must be reliable.”

What do dads look for when they go online?
Before my wife became pregnant, I would visits sites like engadget.com or espn.com. That should pretty much tell you I’m a sports guy into gadgets. Planning for our baby boy, I switched that focus to little things I needed for him and what real world users were saying about it.

Moms get mad at dad ->  http://www.parenting.com/article/Mom/Relationships/Mad-at-Dad Is this article fair? Do dads get equally mad?
Fair? It’s a one sided story. It’s like Rose telling her love story about Jack on the Titanic. Of course she’s going to paint a pretty picture of herself and her mean, meddling mother forcing a marriage to big bad Cal Hockley. I think the article needs a rebuttal from daddies who are more involved with their children. You show percentages, but what is your sample pool composed of?

Do daddies get equally mad? Sure, we’re all human. At times I feel a little frustrated with my wife, but I think men tend to hold less of a grudge and just brush it off after 10 minutes.

When dads go online, do you think they are okay with sharing space/topics with moms? Or do they want more space devoted to just them?
I like to peek in the daddy forum on Parenting.com to discuss/share experiences. It’s easier to relate to other daddies for the most part. Do we need space devoted to us? Sure, it would be nice to see a daddy blogger on Parenting.com

What blogs do you like to read?
Of course there’s the wonderful blogs on Parenting.com. I also like to read simplemom.net, ohdeedoh.com, and designmom.com to name a few.

What do dads want from the web that is different than what moms want?
I personally want things straight to the point. Give me the meat and potatoes right away and skip the salad. 

Do you have a lot of dad readers, or are most of them moms?
Mostly mommies. Parenting.com and similar sites are catered to them yes?

Despite some grimaces, I have yet to experience any of the hardships that other mothers/fathers have attempted to scare me with. I still have ample time to watch sports and play video games. Ironically, I do these activities even more so now that Jagger and I are planted in front of the TV into the wee hours. (he’s asleep in my arms during those times, so calm down mommies and daddies) As for sleep, I’m still getting my 7-8 hours and I try to push my waking hours as deep into the night as possible to give Mary a chance to get some quality rest.

Diapers? A breeze. I’m not a fan of poopy, but I feel immune to Jagger’s dookie–I haven’t dry heaved, gagged, or vomited despite being within face range of the poopy monster’s diapers. To be honest, picking up Oreo’s poopy with a plastic shopping bag in the middle of a dimly lit street during freezing temperatures is a much more painful experience. Now that I think about it, I feel bad for the garbage men who have to take our garbage full of Oreo and Jagger’s poop.

For those wondering, I do have a camera full of pictures from the moment they pulled the little boy out of mommy. But I’m too tired to download them to my computer and post process them. But I promise they will be posted online sometime…whenever that is.

We recently had our hospital tour for our expecting and I saw three pregnant women try to squeeze through a doorway at the same time. I guess that they have gotten so used to the me-first priority that it was like a bunch of male alpha dogs competing for the last bone. After a few more squeeze plays through a couple doorways and one everybody-for-themselves dash for the elevator, these women began to realize that this simply was not going to work and common courtesy returned–well, sort of…

While the tour guide walked us through one of the recovery rooms, it became abundantly clear to me that it’s open season on husbands (or partners). Let him sleep on a two foot wide bench while the mother-to-be relaxes in her comfy bed. Let him sleep under the lighted part of the room so the nurses can walk in without interruption. Charge him to eat while she eats for free around the clock. Charge him to watch ESPN in the room while she enjoys her expensive in-room spa service.

I understand that pregnancy to term is a hardship for any woman. Nine months of carrying a little one who kicks and punches, craves food every other hour, and every other type of ailment you never knew about is a very difficult experience. Husbands may never comprehend the pain involved to push out a child (although I hear that passing kidney stones is the the closest and most painful experience for any man). Husbands may never appreciate the suffering a pregnant woman endures during the first few months of morning sickness. Husbands may never experience a sudden shift in hormonal balance.

But let’s not forget the times us husbands were on the road at 3am searching for your latest craving. Don’t forget the time us husbands worked till sunrise a week straight just to pull in a couple extra dollars for the future family. Don’t forget the times we dropped you off at the mall entrance while we parked two miles away and lugged our way through snowy paths carrying all twelve of your shopping bags.

We’re in it together, pregnant women, husbands, partners, and all. So please, next time a seat is offered, let me sit down and you can sit on my lap.

Some months ago, I glanced at a random toy list and this rubber toy named Sophie Giraffe sat atop of the contenders. I didn’t pay much attention to it then and haven’t thought much of it until Mary read about it in a baby magazine last week. And a few days ago, Sarah at Parenting gave it glowing remarks. Seems that this little animal keeps coming up. Following my sports law professor’s rule of thumb, “An idiot can have an opinion. Two idiots can share an opinion. But if three people are saying the same thing, then consider it expert advice.”

Curious, I looked into what’s so special about this giraffe from Vulli Toys. On their website I came across some interesting information regarding baby’s sensory development and the giraffe. Below are the ones that caught my interest.

It’s information like this that was not shared in my pregnancy for fathers guide. Searching on Google, I found this article explaining a baby’s sight development. It’s pretty interesting to know that they will only recognize red, orange, green, and yellow the first few months. So I’m guessing that a lot of babies tend to ignore the purple Tinky Winky who is allegedly the gay TeleTubby. Poor guy (or girl or whatever it is)

I did not know my wife’s skin could be associated with rubber, but I am guessing that is not what Sophie the Giraffe feels like. So off to Google I went and I found this video on Parenting.com. According to the article (and I paraphrase), touch helps the baby understand the world, from the warm water in his tub, to the feeling of his blanket, so much that the baby craves it, needs it to thrive. To me, it sounds like being on ecstasy. 

Last Words

Supposedly this is the new chic toy for parents to have for their newborn. According to Vulli, this toy has been around since the 60s. Either it’s making a Britney Spears comeback or it’s only making it’s rounds now.

At roughly $20 a pop, I think it’s worth a shot to try it out once baby Jagger is born.