Stay-at-home dads face unique opportunities, challenges in raising kids

Feature story for The Commercial Appeal

Oct. 17, 2010

When the economy faltered and downsizing entered the lexicon, families began having to make difficult decisions.

One of those decisions involved whether one parent would stay home with a child or children, in part to defray child care costs. Increasingly, that parent was the father.

Many families didn’t see it coming: the pink slip, the sudden downtime, the new schedule involving not board meetings and business lunches, but naptime and “SpongeBob SquarePants.” Even with the 1983 film “Mr. Mom” as an omen, fathers may not have heeded the warning of the film’s star, Michael Keaton, and the dire implications of whole days spent in front of soap operas or in supermarket aisles.

They are referred to as SAHDs, and these stay-at-home dads are a new trend in parenting whether by design or circumstance.

“I used to work five days a week, eight hours a day. Now I work 16 hours a day, seven days a week, and I’m on call the other eight hours,” jokes Ken Hughes, a 42-year-old stay-at-home dad in East Memphis. “It’s so much harder than work. … There’s no off time.” … (read more)