My Daddy Works in His Underwear

Good eatin', but apparently not in New York's PS 9.

New York Times writer Susan Dominus interviewed a woman - MeMe Roth - whose children seemingly are offered enough sugary snacks and candies in school to send them into a diabetic coma - or at least an afternoon sugar crash.

So Ms. Roth has launched a campaign (her second, apparently) against the practice of well-intended parents sending cupcakes to school for a child’s classmates to share in a birthday celebration.

An Atlanta native, apparently the fair Ms. Roth is no Southern Belle. In principle, the concept seems fair: Sugar run amok is contributing to rising obesity, diabetes and other disease, which, in turn, costs our nation untold suffering and billions in healthcare costs.

In the article, she’s been painted as belligerent and confrontational. Some in her school - and previous schools - have seen her rants as self-serving and ill-intended. She reminds me of the woman in the 1990s who railed against Married: With Children, hoping to get Al, Peg and the risque show ditched from the TV line-up.

Viewership spiked.

As the father of three grade-school kids also offered cakes and snacks during school (birthday snacks, holiday treats and the lot — sometimes offered by our family in celebration of our own children’s milestones or events), I can see Ms. Roth’s concern. But frankly, she seems in it for the battle - or notoriety.

A more thoughtful approach, one that probably would serve her children better in their own futures, would be to espouse their saying three words: “No, thank you.”

What do you think…?
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My family’s dog, Riley, died recently. He had kidney failure, and was gone in less than a week. My father, a writer, told us we should be writing about our feelings and memories. Here’s what I wrote…

“The dog I’ve grown to know and love Is now in heaven up above.
In his heaven there’s squirrels and trees. He runs through the yard with an easy breeze.

There are couches galore and a pool, too,
And that is most definitely the perfect shaded blue.
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As a work-at-home dad, I once was innocently tagged by my daughter as that dad who “works in his underwear.” Such is my home office lament.

So imagine the surprise when this mom read the subtext of what her child drew about what Mommy does for a living…

Suffice it to say, Mommy felt the need to clear the air…

Dear Mrs. Jones,

I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer. I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it. Her picture doesn’t show me dancing around a pole. It’s supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot.

From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.

Sincerely, Mrs. Smith

Now, I’ve become quite suspicious of stuff being passed as “truth” on the Internet. But fact or fiction, this is plain funny.

Millions of American men are joining the ranks of the work-at-home dad — if only temporarily.

One of those was Josh Lubin, a Web advertising executive in Atlanta. After the birth of his child, Josh spent some time at home on paternity leave. Read about his experiences below or by clicking here….

ATLANTA, Georgia — Going back to work after my wife had our first child was an emotional roller coaster.
The author says that being “Mr. Mom” is appealing, but putting the idea into practice is harder than it looks.
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What’s Dad worth?

Salary.com, Inc., the compensation expert, posted a dad version of its popular Mom’s Salary Wizard. Among its top-line findings:

* Dads don’t earn as much overtime as moms for their stay-at-home jobs.

* The typical working dad earned no overtime in his 39.6-hour dad’s work week, while working moms earned, on average, 27% of their “mom salary” in overtime.

* Although their hours differed, all parents had eight jobs in common: Day Care Center Teacher, Laundry Machine Operator, Computer Operator, CEO, Facilities Manager, Psychologist, Van Driver, and Cook.

* Dads had two jobs in their top 10 which moms did not have: General Maintenance Worker and Groundskeeper.

* Moms had two unique counterpart jobs: Janitor and Housekeeper.

* By working long hours in a high-wage area, stay-at-home dads near Silicon Valley in California, clocked in at an annual value greater than $149,000.

* Working fewer “dad hours” in a low wage area, working dads on the rural Texas-New Mexico border rated about $83,500 in dad pay.

What else did the survey discover…?
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Don’t be surprised if you see more dads on the playground with the kids during the workday.

According to a 2007 CareerBuilder.com Working Dads survey, 37 percent of working dads say they’d leave their jobs if their spouse or partner made enough money to support the family. If given the choice, another 38 percent would take a pay-cut to spend more time with their kids.

The CareerBuilder.com survey, “Working Dads 2007,” was conducted from February 15 to March 6, 2007 and included 1,521 men, employed full-time, with children under the age of 18 living at home.

* Nearly one-in-four (24 percent) working dads feel work is negatively impacting their relationship with their children.

* Forty-eight percent have missed a significant event in their child’s life due to work at least once in the last year and nearly one-in-five (18 percent) have missed four or more.

The time working dads spend on work far exceeds the time spent with their children.
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Kelly Lieberman is a serial entrepreneur, domain strategist, devoted mom. And she remembers vividly the day her daughter, Lily, “outed” her as a work-at-home parent

Lily was in first grade. She was asked to draw a picture of what her parents did for a living, and what she would like to do when she grew up.

During the parent-teacher conference, Kelly and husband Joe say pictures of Joe in a suit at his desk with a computer, Lily as a princess, and Kelly in a night gown with a laptop on a bed.

“I was mortified,” Kelly recalls. “Thank goodness everyone knew me.”
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Johnson & Johnson’s division that makes Motrin might be wanting 800 milligrams of ibuprofen right about now.

A couple of black eyes and a sore ego seems to be afflicting the group.

Seems that they came out with a campaign that suggested moms who carry their kids in slings, pouches, pappooses (or however those things are spelled) and elsewhere on the female human physique tend to get sore. Read Forbes’ take here. Marketing guy Seth Godin had a POV, too.

“It’s a good kind of pain. It’s for my kid. Plus it totally makes me look like an official mom.”

Not a nanny. Not a surrogate. Not a grandma, a bubbie, a nanna. But an “official mom.”

Avoiding for the moment any discussion surrounding what or who “An Official Mom” may really be, what about an “Official Dad.” Do we count? Does our pain amount to less than that of a mom, or are we so muscle bound and ripped that carrying junior in a papoose is just another weight disc on the barbell?

MyDaddyWorksInHisUnderwear.com is for dads who work from home.

Teleworkers or 1099ers. Corporate citizens and entrepreneurs. If you work from home — even occasionally — then this site’s for you.

And the people who love (or tolerate) you. Or appreciate the commitment you’ve made and the challenges you face. Or the fun you have — even sometimes at your own expense.

Working in your underwear is not mandatory (fully clothed is acceptable, as is commando). But it’s about a mindset, a perspective that says, “I work where my life is.”

And my life includes three kids, a wife, a dog, a hamster — and all the trappings that come in tow.

Coming soon will be a collection of stories from dads who work from home and the decisions that drove them there. Check back. Often. It should be a hoot for dads, moms, guys, gals and anyone who digs the workspace called home.

Even if you’re in your underwear.

Even as a home officer who occasionally works thriftily-clad, I can be an occasional road warrior. I go to hockey tournaments, host television media tours from NYC, watch Gator games at UF, and generally do my part to support the travel and lodging industries.

And, invariably, those trips involve sleep on the road.

So I often bring along that horse-yoke inflatable collar / pillow-like thing that’s supposed to keep me comfortable when I’m stuck in an airplane seat or slummin’ it at LaGuardia when bad weather’s cancelled my flight home.

What is the traveler to do? Blow up your TravelRest pillow.
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