More Thoughts on Dr. Laura's Book: "In Praise of Stay-At-Home Moms"

I've been thinking some more about some of Dr. Laura Schlessinger's comments in the interview I posted a few days ago here. Specifically, I've been fuming about her comment regarding a father's ability to stay home with a child under the age of 3.

It is absolutely ludicrous to me that this woman honestly believes that a guy cannot successfully stay home with a young child. After all of the years where men have been bashed for not taking an active role in their kids' lives, this lady comes along and actually says that men don't have the ability to stay home with young kids.

Is that condescending to anyone else? Because, honestly, I think I'm a pretty damn good father. I don't know if I'd be a great stay at home dad, but that's not the point. I could absolutely do it, and do it well, if I had to. And I know that there are plenty of great stay at home dads out there.

Having a vagina does not make you more qualified to be a stay at home parent! That's just not part of the qualifications. It's all about your ability to provide for your children and do the things that will make them well-adjusted people.

Damn you Dr. Laura. I'm done talking about you.

She does, however, say some great things about stay at home moms, so I do appreciate that. Here's another interview if you're interested.

Dr. Laura's Book on SAHMs: "In Praise of Stay-At-Home Moms"

I'll admit, as a guy, I have never listened to Dr. Laura Schlessinger's radio show. I'm not really her target audience. But she did release a new book last week that is pretty pertinent to this blog: "In Praise of Stay-At-Home Moms." The book essentially talks about how all moms should be stay at home moms. Now, that's not feasible, but she does make a good case.

Here is an interview from the Wall Street Journal with a lot of good information. She talks about actually making the decision to stay home and the decision to return to work. I do sort of take issue with this part:

WSJ: Where do stay-at-home dads fit into the picture?
Dr. Schlessinger: I
recommend that during the first three years, the mom should be at home because
all of the research shows that the person whose body you come out of and whose
breast you suck at, at that stage, really needs to be the mom -- unless she's
incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial. After that, flip a coin.

I think it's probably pretty obvious that I am also a fan of stay-at-home dads, so this comment seems to discount a man's ability to adequately care for a kid until the age of three. That's just silly. Regardless, it's a good interview and a very intriguing book. Let me know if any of you have read or plan to read. I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

I've also included a link to a thread on the Baby Center forums with a TON of responses to this book. Needless to say, there are more than a few working moms out there not exactly thrilled with Dr. Laura's message.

http://blogs.babycenter.com/celebrities/2009/04/12/dr-laura-says-all-moms-should-stay-at-home/?scid=momsbaby_20090414:2&pe=2Uvqt1h