A dad lets it all hang out

After pondering the challenges facing at-home dads, and the likelihood that there are striking similarities between their struggles and the struggles of at-home moms, Elizabeth at Half Changed World pointed me to what I'd been searching for.

Kevin Koperski writes a blog called The Daily Writer: Chronicles of a stay-at-home Dad, and he had a very informative post called, "Curbing Your Ambitionism" on Tuesday.

He didn't answer all of my questions that I wrote about Tuesday, but it certainly confirmed that the struggles are not gender-specific.

Sure, it's often difficult to watch friends rampaging up the corporate ladder or graduating with PhD's, devoting all their time and effort to work and education and, well, being single. But it helps us understand the value of 'free time', and it forces us to make the most of what little of it we have. By becoming more efficient, less dependant on sleep, more dependant on caffeine, we can accomplish much in so short a time. And as long as we progress, even if the increments are infinitesimal, we can be proud of our accomplishments. Because we have two goals now. One, to become successful in our careers, and Two, to raise healthy, happy children. If we succeed, those friends with their PhDs won't have anything on us.

Confirming at least some of my suspicions doesn't make my journey any easier, but perhaps I should take comfort in the knowledge that this struggle to find ourselves isn't just yanking women in a bunch of directions at once. This desire to have a bit of everything is messing with parents everywhere.