- Instead of using vacation time to take a trip, consider staying home and using it to be more involved with the kids. Let dad ferry them to their usual activities or camp out in the backyard with them. Or, spread vacation days out over the year so you don’t miss as many crucial activities.
- When Dad comes home and the kids make a beeline for him, step back and let them play rough.
- Get his input on household rules, chores, and other issues.
- Maintain family get-together times, like dinner on certain days of the month, and hold your kids to the schedule even if they’re in high school and think it’s corny.
Like moms, dads are doing what they can to balance providing and nurturing. Through my work, I’ve come to understand that men and women have a lot of the same guilty feelings. Just like working moms, working dads don’t have enough time to balance providing and nurturing, and your husband may end up feeling guilty, even if he doesn’t feel it’s his place to say so.
This is an excerpt from The Modern Mom's Guide to Dad: Ten Secrets Your Husbands Won't Tell You by Hogan Hilling and Jesse Jayne Rutherford. Cumberland House Publishing.
