Blank Stares or Knowing Smiles?
It’s not that your friends are going to make fun of you for your choice. This isn’t high school. But are they going to understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it?
Are you going to be able to talk to your friends about what your day is like, balancing your own work, with parenting and supporting your spouse in her career and have them understand what it’s like?
Could you ever imagine talking about being a Lead Dad at work? Or with your boss? Or asking the HR department for help?
As I’ve joked, what would the reaction be if, after a round of golf, you were drinking a beer with your buddies, found out you’d missed signing up your daughter for dance class and blurted out: “Do you guys have any idea how tough it is to get a kid into ballet class in this town???”
If the response is blank stares, you’re probably not in a group of dads like us. If it’s a knowing nod, you’ve found your community of Lead Dads.
As we work to build The Company of Dads into the online and in-person community, we’re going to lean into short podcasts with Lead Dads sharing their stories. We’re also going to talk to academics and experts discussing where we are as a society and what barriers exist to creating a more practical work and home system for Lead Dads and their families.
