Fathers are much more involved than they've ever been, and that's fantastic. Far fewer wage earners arrive home, demand a cocktail, wolf down dinner unappreciatively, and pass out on the couch. (That wage earner isn't even always male.) But as with every swing of the pendulum, trends can be carried too far. Since when does Daddy have to stagger home after a full day of work and take full responsibility for all the kid wrangling?

Don't get me wrong. Lots of dads (including me) look forward to tending to their children after a day's worth of soul-numbing office politics, but when did it become expected? The world is full of mommybloggers who proudly write how they foist their children on Dear Husband the moment he gets home, and any time I read that I cringe. I understand that Mommy had a stressful day, but dammit, Daddy just spent the day listening to blathering clients, or catering to self-important superiors, or putting out a bunch of fires he didn't start. He deserves a little downtime, too.

I think my wife and I have hit upon the perfect balance. We used to do what most couples do, I suppose: we alternated all the book-readin', bath-givin', meal-makin', dish-washin', etc., based on who's free to do what. Now, our live-in servants take care of everything while my wife and I spend our evenings living the high life among the glitterati and cognoscenti. Truly, if your plural doesn't end in i, we want no part of you.

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