The documentary dads were back, and more than ever. I think there were twelve bazillion today.
These are the dads that claim to be in a SAHD club, but have only started showing up at the playground since they got involved in a documentary project. Today was even more artificial than before, with the dads putting their kids through the shooting of staged B-roll scenes, so the producers could get pictures of them pretending to arrive, and then leave, and then arrive again from a different angle, ad infinitum (or ad tantrum, anyway).
Sigh.
As before, I’m mostly indifferent to these guys; the only thing that tends to bother me is the self-promotion. You’ll remember that I had no idea why they would bother turning out for filming day when they don’t come on other days. It’s just a student documentary, not fated to be influential or widely seen. Watching the “performances” today, though, I had an epiphany:
One of the differences between SAHDs and SAHMs is that the dads really want a lot of credit for what they’re doing.
Everyone likes recognition, of course, but some stay-at-home dads I’ve met (epitomized by the members of this club) really thirst to be told that what they’re doing is laudable and noble.
Funnily enough, being a stay-at-home parent, mom or dad, is laudable and noble. That almost goes without saying. And I like being told that, too. But there’s something that makes me uncomfortable about asking for that kind of recognition.
Anyway, part of the reason I don’t mind so much is that they at least bring a lot of fun one-year olds to the playground, and I love it when Boobaby’s got company. And a bunch of my mom-friends showed up and we could all chuckle about it from a distance.
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