11 Things Dads Can Do Just As Well As Moms (Sometimes Better)
Recently a fellow Babble blogger raised quite a stir by writing about things he feels moms generally do better than dads. While I appreciate that Cody wanted to give his wife credit for the stuff she does well, his list just didn’t apply to our family.
In fact, his post inspired me to come up with a list of my own of the things my husband and a lot of other dads I know are great at:
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Holding a newborn.
This is Owen, baby #4, and by that time, Jon had had plenty of practice. But I do have to say he's always been a master at baby-wrangling.
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Nature walks.
Yeah, I give him some flak for playing too many video games with the kids, but Jon's great at hitting the trails, too.
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Baking with kids.
Fun in the kitchen is definitely not only Mom's domain in our house.
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Co-sleeping.
I have multiple photos of my husband napping with each of our five kids. What can I say: the man loves to sleep.
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Lighting birthday candles.
For some reason this job always seems to fall to my husband. Maybe because I'm a klutz who drips wax and burns my fingers.
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Babywearing.
This is actually my brother John and my nephew Jack. I didn't have any good photos of Jon wearing a baby, but both guys are pretty much experts.
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Playing mad scientist.
This is one of the areas Jon far excels as a parent. I can't remember a single time I've donned a lab coat and goggles at a children's museum.
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Getting down on the floor to play.
This is a picture of our oldest son Jacob and Jon when he was still a pretty new dad. He's still much better at getting down on the floor and playing than I am.
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Burping babies.
Jon as a young dad burping our second son, Isaac. A total master.
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Cuddling.
Unless there are boobs involved, I've always been pretty useless at putting little ones to sleep. Not Jon. All it takes is a three-minute cuddle and they're sawing logs. Both of them.
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Welcoming a new baby.
Okay, so Jon can't actually give birth. But that doesn't mean he can't actively participate at the big moment.
Do the dads in your life excel at parenting tasks? Please tell us which ones in the comments!
Like this post? More from Meagan:
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Some of my favorite Babble posts:
*I don’t take my kids out to play, I SEND them out to play
*Why I love the word “homemaker”
*Mothering from the road: what’s wrong with business trip prep?
After seeing your last picture, is it safe to assume that you experienced a water birth? My husband and I are hoping to be expecting our 2nd child within the next year, and I’d love to hear more about your experience! I’d also like to hear any recommendations you have about baby wearing gear. We used a Baby Bjorn with our son but will definitely be looking into another option for the next one. Thanks Meagan!
Yes! I had water births with 4 of my 5 kids. I’ll email you!
I agree that my husband is so much better at playing on the floor with our son & in our house Dadda almost exclusively handles bath time. @Kate I’d recommend the Ergo baby carrier. Neither my son or I were comfortable in the sling & the Bjorn chaffed Chase pretty good. The Ergo is super comfy for both of us.
I was so excited by the title of this article. For the last two years my husband has been the stay at home parent, and it has opened my eyes at how much we bias parenting toward moms. The truth is, my husband is an awesome and involved father. We both have our strengths, but he does some things much better than I. He isn’t Mr. Mom. He’s Dad, and he’s great at it. Some of the things he’s better at… (1) Simply playing and having fun with the kids… be it the playground, the wii, or just wrestling on the floor. Whereas I start thinking about laundry and cooking and noticing that spot that needs to be cleaned, he just plain has fun. Is the house clean when I get home from work? No. But the kids had fun. (2) Introducing our daughter to tools and construction. I know those things, but I’m not as good at teaching them to her. His involvement broadens her interest. (3) Teaching new skills like riding bicycles or how to play checkers. His patience is amazing. I know I have strengths as well… art projects, over-the-top silly fun, making sure they are bathed, birthday parties and play dates, keping things running smoothly, etc, but I would never say that I am a better parent than him nor am I better equiped. We’ve learned to appreciate each other, utilize the other’s strengths, accept when things are done differently, and give each other a break.
This article and the one you referred to just goes to show how every household is different. To be honest there’s not much that my husband and I can relate to our household from either! We all have our different roles that work for us and kudos to both of you for giving your spouses props :)
My fiance is so much at doing EVERYTHING than I am, and I get so jealous sometimes. I can’t get Emrys to sleep to save my life, but Justin will hold him, and in minutes, Emrys is snoozing into la-la land. But at least I’m better at putting his socks on him and his shoes. I’ve mastered putting those things on him while he’s asleep, and taking them off, so yay me. I wanted to have a water birth with Emrys, but the hospital didn’t accommodate those types of births, and I ended up having an emergency C-section. Now, I’m having another C-section with my daughter, due to medical reasons. But if I could go back and change my birthing facility, I’d make sure that it allowed water births!
I meant to say that hes better than I am at doing just about EVERYTHING, especially diaper changes now that Emrys is 11 months old.
uuuugh the cuddling thing bugs me:P I’ve always been the one to get her to go to sleep and she won’t go to bed and will throw the biggest fit ever at night, if she doesn’t get to lay with ME specifically to watch tv. She can’t cuddle with daddy for naps or bedtime she SHOULD be taking….now, middle of the day, not supposed to be napping, going to mess mommies WHOLE schedule up? Takes her and her father 3 seconds and they’re both out like little, day halting lights:P It’s the most obnoxious thing I’ve ever seen, drives me crazy>.<
Mine is better at being goofy.. sometimes I’m just to serious because things need to get done.. He’s also better at being a kid then I am. Video games, legos etc. But what dad isn’t? Aren’t they all just big babies that we love!
I love this article.. you always hear about negative things but not the good. Bravo to you.. It makes me appreciate my husband more.
Reading books! Benjamin does voices, motions, tickles and shouting. He’ll even sing. He has more energy and an impressive set of lungs.
We both have our strengths and our weaknesses. None of them are based on gender (for example, I do car maintenance and he does the cooking). The things we are good at are the strengths of our personality, also dependant on who has had more sleep recently!