Chris and his son (Photo: Chris McGuire)

I’m a stay at home dad, and I’m getting bored.

What am I bored of?

My two year old’s company?

No, he’s far too energetic to be anything even close to boring.


Not having enough to do?

No, I’ve never been busier in my life (I genuinely see working at my desk as ‘me time’).

Changing nappies?

That’s true. But if changing nappies doesn’t bore (or horrify) you, I’d be pretty convinced you’re not human.

What I’m really bored of is the attitudes of other parents (and grandparents) to stay at home dads, like me.



I’m tired of being watched when I take my son to the playground. I’m fed up of saying ‘hello’ to mothers (out with their children, like me) and being blanked.

I’m frustrated by the mutterings of grandparents when they see a man ‘of working age’ in the soft play at 9am on Tuesday morning.

This archaic attitude to men in childcare roles really has to stop, for everyone’s sake.

Stay at home dads are a growing trend, yet the men fulfilling this vital role consistently find themselves treated with either contempt or as a threat.

Yes, I understand when men first entered the weekday childcare world (traditionally occupied exclusively by women), it must have been a surprise. Yet (surely) the time has come to get over the shock and move on.

Women, we all agree, should have equality in the workplace. Yet why are we, as a society, so slow to positively embrace men taking their fair share of childcare – surely the logical result of this parity?

Stay at home dads aren’t in playgrounds because they’re sexual predators, nor are they hunting among the mothers for a potential new mate. They’re not even ‘failures’ taking the ‘easy route’ instead of ‘working for a living’ (all phrases I’ve overheard).

Dads are in playgrounds, soft play centres and (archaically titled) ‘mother and baby’ groups in order to parent their children, it’s as simple (or complex) as that.

Recently, in a soft play centre, an older child began following my son around throwing plastic balls at his head. I asked the child to stop, politely. Nothing happened.

So, I repeated my request, more firmly this time. From nowhere, a mother ran into the area. Without looking at me, she exclaimed, ‘come away from the nasty man,’ and dragged the child off.

Had I been a woman, would she have acted in the same way?

I doubt it.

Children, especially boys, are crying out for strong male role models. We’re all clear about that, aren’t we? So why is it that a dad devoting his time to looking after his own children is strange?

That parenting isn’t easy is something women have understood for years. So why are men criticised as ‘skiving’ when they take the lion’s share of the childcare work?

Women, we all agree, should have equality in the workplace. Yet why are we, as a society, so slow to positively embrace men taking their fair share of childcare – surely the logical result of this parity?

As the government scratches its head, wondering why droves of men aren’t taking up shared parental leave, I’d suggest the solution is clear.

Our society must change its attitudes on what is a ‘manly’ occupation. The days of masculine activities being limited to lifting heavy objects are over. Men in non-traditional job roles (and being a stay at home parent IS a job) aren’t modern day eunuchs.



What could be tougher (or more ‘manly’) than giving up the predictable kudos of bringing home the proverbial smoked pork products in order to support their family in another way?

Together we must create a new consensus that celebrates males in full time parenting roles, ending the era of the playground pariah.

You can find Chris on his blog, Twitter or Instagram.

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