Friday Fun: Guitar Lessons

Happy Friday, everyone!

I've written before about how important music is to me, and about how I used to play trumpet and sing in church choir and all that good stuff. But I haven't yet written about my earliest aspiration, even before my ridiculous astronaut and gas station management dreams (see "My Place in this World").

I wanted to be a Beatle.

1964 Ed Sullivan Show appearance (from dmbeatles.com)

Mr. Mom

You may remember that Heidi recently wrote a post about disproving gender stereotypes in parenting. If you haven't read it yet, please check it out.  (Although you may be inadvertently feeding her ego - turns out that, to date, her post is the most read post in the 6-month history of the blog! My blog. LOL. So feel free to check out "Worrywart," the next most-read one, and give her some competition.)

But I digress.

Her post basically explained the ways in which she embodies many of the more traditional "dad" qualities and I am more like a traditional "mom," which may be surprising given our outward appearances.  But whatever way you slice it, we're a good team for our kids, so we must be doing something right!

Well, along those lines, I just read this article on CNN.com, written by a woman whose husband fills the mom role sometimes more than she does. If you found Heidi's post interesting, compare it with this article and tell us what you think about gender stereotypes and how they actually play out in real-life families.

In what ways does your family/ parenting style conform or not conform to the stereotypes?

Dude Looks Like a Lady: Gendering Parenthood

I am the Dad.  Or, better yet, I am the 1950s Dad.  I work long hours, come home to dinner on the table most nights, and contribute very rarely to routine housework.  I am the major breadwinner and I handle all of the household jobs that require muscle or the use of tools. 

Yet these characteristics are not what make me the Dad.  Rather, it is the relationship that I share with Anna that makes me the Dad in our family.

Happy together, Oct. 2011

Here Comes Another Awesome Guest Post!

It seems that My Life With Pie is really becoming a family affair. I do the writing, Uncle Keith does the tech support, and now Mama Heidi is inching her way toward becoming a regular guest post writer.

Tomorrow we're featuring Heidi's 2nd guest post here on the blog. Here's a bit of a teaser.....have you ever thought about what makes a mom a mom?  Or what makes a dad a dad?  Is it just gender, or is it how we express our gender?  Let's face it, some of us moms aren't the gentle, warm and fuzzy type, and some dads aren't the strong, tough, provider type.  Some moms can be tougher than typical dads, and some dads can be sweeter and more nurturing than typical moms. Sometimes the stereotypes are just plain wrong.

Of course, gender issues become even more nuanced when there is a single parent who has to be both mom and dad, or when, like us, the parents are a same-sex couple.  Some people have wondered which one of us is the "mom" and which one is the "dad." Do we fit into those typical roles?  Should we?  Why is this what people expect?

Please tune in tomorrow as Heidi tackles this complicated and very interesting topic. See you then!

Happy Father's Day!

Just wanted to wish a Happy Father's Day to all of you wonderful dads out there!  I learned a lot about being a parent from my own dad, who has always provided a little extra humor for our family, has kept up an optimistic spirit despite all the obstacles life may have thrown at him, and has always believed that his kids could be whatever we wanted to be as long as we put our minds to it.