RebelDad

Posted on 28. Sep, 2004 by Brian Reid in General

Where’s Casey Kasem when you need him: a little ditty called (creatively) Mr. Mom by country music quartet Lonestar is up to #14 on the Billboard country chart. The song has raised some eyebrows on the stay-at-home dad message boards (and At Home Dad tackles it here).

I’d love to write that the song is a catalog of the joys and headaches of being an at-home parent, but there’s not a whole lot of joy in the song. The message, if you read the lyrics, is pretty clear: parenting sucks, and all y’all had better pray that you keep your jobs. The song is apparently a “thank you” to at-home moms. You can translate the thank-you thusly: “We appreciate all the gawd-awful crap you put up with, honey. Keep it up! We’ll be at work!”

I’m not moron enough to take a pop music tune as serious social commentary or a reflection of reality. It’s clear “Mr. Mom” is neither. Setting aside all the silly stereotypes, there’s one element that really sticks out in my mind, hearing the song. Nowhere is the idea of spending time with the kids presented as fun or meaningful, even in passing. Even the original Mr. Mom (the movie) had enough heart to recognize that …

Also: Peter Baylies (aka At Home Dad) is publishing his labor of love, The Stay-at-Home Dad Handbook, next month. I’ll let you know when it hits shelves, but Amazon.com bots are standing by to take your pre-release orders.