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Ready for School: Stay-at-home dads

KING5.com

Posted on October 24, 2009 at 3:32 PM

Updated Saturday, Oct 24 at 3:35 PM

Bob Bryant is used to managing a warehouse - rather than a household.

He was laid off from his job as a zone manager at the Seattle Times last December, and joined the growing number of stay-at-home dads.

"My wife thought it was great, because I worked graveyard, it was hard on our family, but she thought this was terrific news in the world. I didn't take it like that, it was hard on me, I didn't know where I was going to go, what I was going to do next," he said.

So now, he's the one running the household and taking care of his two young sons while his wife goes to work.

"It's great, I love doing this," he said. "It just doesn't pay very well, but it's great to be doing this with the kids."

And it's definitely changed the family dynamics.

"Yeah, I'm doing more housework. I'm doing more housework, I'm keeping it clean, I feel just a responsibility to keep everything in the house going," said Bob.

But it goes far beyond just doing more dishes.

"Dads like to play more, they have more fun with the children," said parenting expert Julie Ogata,

Ogata says dads, even more than moms, may need a game plan to get their kids - school ready.

"You maybe have to say, OK, we need to get books, we need to shop for school stuff, we need to make sure we are on top of that, and also keeping on top of anything like reading, just kind of getting your child ready for that day-to-day schedule and learning," she said.

Bob agrees. His wife is more of the task-master.

"I'm more fun-time Daddy, when mom comes home, it's more schoolwork, and let's get some stuff done. I'm just Disneyland Daddy," he said.

But he knows Disneyland Daddy's days are numbered.

"There's going to be a point, more in August, that I need to kind of gear up, get the kids ready, go get their school clothes, get their school supplies, start working on those things," he said.

And he's savoring this time with his sons.

"It'll be sad when I go back to work," he said. "It's like taking your kids to the first day of kindergarten. It'll be hard, but it'll be a transition that's good for our family."

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