Dads and Mom Congress

Mom Congress needs dads.  Since starting my work for Mom Congress, I’ve been asked on more than one occasion why it’s “Mom” Congress and not “Dad” Congress or “Parent” Congress.  I thought of this question again today as I looked back on my Father’s Day weekend. 

Now, I wasn’t involved in getting Mom Congress off the ground but when I look around the at who are reading Parenting Magazine religiously and who make up the vast majority of volunteers and active PTA members in my school, it’s not hard to guess why Parenting decided to gear this initiative toward moms.  Mothers are often the public faces leading their families’ efforts to advocate for education.  But that doesn’t mean that the work of fathers is any less important.

In our family, I’m generally the one working in the classroom, helping with fundraisers and researching about what’s going on in education.  I’m home during the day and my schedule is more flexible.  But Dan will periodically take a day off to help out at school, hold down the fort while I run off to meetings at night, and do homework or read with the kids.  I may be the parent who’s more frequently in the schools, but it’s definitely a team effort.  I just get all the glory.  Mwahaha.

I find that to be the case often with dads.  They help.  They work.  They support.  But when it comes to getting kudos for awesome parenting, the praise tends to go to the moms.  We’re frequently more hands-on, more obviously involved in the nurture and education of our kids.  Dan doesn’t mind being behind the scenes, where I have to admit he comes up with some of our most awesome parenting style choices.  The guy is a natural at this. 

Melissa Bilash of Pennsylvania wrote a sweet post on her blog about fathers this weekend.  Go have a look and then thank a father in your life.  We may be Mom Congress but we couldn’t do it without all the involved dads out there, either working directly to support education or supporting us as we volunteer our time.

Kathryn Thompson is a mom to two school-aged kids, a toddler and a deceased betta fish. She can also be found at The Parenting Post, DaringYoungMom.com and occasionally the gym.