Playground madness
As a SAHD, DH is often taking the boys out to local playgrounds, parks and whatnot. He says he gets a fair share of weird looks from random moms and other women when he's out and about, in addition to frequent comments on his judgement, i.e. women telling him that our kids aren't dressed right or "are you sure he doesn't need a hat"? etc. When people hit me with the unsolicited advice I usually hit them back with a snarky comeback, but he's the type who just smiles and takes things in stride.
But something else happens with frequency, happened again today, and it really pisses me off. Women pull out their phones or their cameras and snap pictures of my husband at the park with our children. From his description, this is done in a really conspicuous way, I'm assuming in order to threaten him in case he's a would-be pedophile. Every time this has happened (he's told me about at least five instances) I get really angry. To me, it is completely out of line for random, paranoid women to be snapping photos of my children. DH is a great dad, attentive and caring. What is so weird about a father out during a workday with his kids???
I think DH should tell these women to put their cameras away. He thinks it would just aggravate their suspicion that he's a pedophile. What do you mamas think? Am I overreacting, or is this creepy and inappropriate?
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Unbe-fucking-lievably creepy and inappropriate.
ick.
"I'm drowning and monkeys dressed as lifeguards are throwing me anvils"
Dilbert comic strip
I agree, it's ridiculous! Whose to say a man can't actually just be a GOOD father?
~Seriousness is a sickness; your sense of humor makes you more human, more humble.~
~Seriousness is a sickness; your sense of humor makes you more human, more humble.~
I agree, really creepy. If they do it again, he should totally pose and bust out with a cheesy smile.
Have you seen the movie "Little Children"? This post kinda reminds me of it.
honestly this might work the best -- let them know that a. he's not scared of them and that b. they're being ridiculous.
guava, these ladies are just downright out of line and I will go so far as to say sick. why are dads not allowed to go to a park with their kids? I honestly don't think SAHDs are that weird?? some guys work from home, some work on contract, some are in school, some work nights, some are unemployed right now...I just don't get why these women have an issue with him hanging out with his kids. sheesh.
while I have definitely gotten shit for being the primary provider (and dh therefore being "lazy" or "not supporting" me), I don't think dh has gotten this so much. there are a number of both dads and moms (well, mostly moms but you do see other dads, and dh I think has made friends with all of the regular dads) at our playground. Maybe because we live in a university town, maybe because a lot of people work in tech and do work from home or have weird hours...who knows?
can your dh schedule times to go with the other dad(
who seem to frequent the parks? a strength in numbers thing?
Though I am a native, I still don't get it....
Here, sometimes there are more dads at the playground then moms.
I sure wouldn't like weird pushy women taking pics of my dh and kid regardless of good or strange intentions.
Its really sad, to be honest with you, because this is what our media has created... fear, paranoia, suspicious people. I think he should ignore them, say hi, wave at the camera and smile and just be in his own world with his awesome kids - who are really lucky, by the way, to get so much papa-time. 
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860)
OH, if he could get the gumpsha to do it, he should ask them to NOT take pictures of him and his children. It makes him and his wife uncomfortable.
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860)
That is really weird. Color me a liberal weirdo... But I only find men at the playground creepy if they are hanging around the playground checking out the kids, do not have children with them... Not even a dog... Trying to chat up the moms... You get the picture.
What the hell? They suck.
Up here there tends to be more moms than dads at the playgrounds; but it's not unheard of to see a dad at the park with his kids on a weekday. Hell, my DH works from home sometimes and takes the kid to the park on his lunch break. He's never mentioned such a phenomenon; though sometimes he walks in all smug because a single mom or nanny was hitting on him.
and I am very wary of men at the playground but not if they are there with their kids, sheesh.
I am swisterland...switzerland? fuck it, I am swiss.
I don't want people taking pics of me or my kids; they're out of line and he has every right to look at them strangely and ask them not to take pictures of him.
Paranoia, paranoia..this is exactly what is wrong with the world. Mama I am so sorry this is happening. F*&K those women. One of my best friends is a SAHD and he is so good with everyone's kids, and he gets games and hunts going at playgrounds all the time. Cause let's face it dads are more fun and spontaneous, those woman are ridiculous.
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and honestly, it's probably the one DH could pull off best. He says he "doesn't see the point in confronting them" but the fact that there are strangers out there walking around with my kids' pics on their cameras really bugs me, even if they're just going to erase them later. We live in LA where there are tons of folks with non-traditional work schedules, so it surprises me that this has happened so frequently, though it seems to happen most at one particular park in our area.
There's the issue of the photos, which is offensive by itself, but there is the larger issue that offends me - that some women find a man actively engaging with his own children to be such an aberration from the norm that they need to "protect" the kids. Sort of like those commercials for house cleaning products in which a woman is "correcting" a man because he obviously can't clean the house properly. I really do not understand what is so weird and threatening about a dad being at the park with his kids. Unfortunately, none of his friends in the vicinity are in the same boat work-wise where they could go with him during the week.
I wish I could go with them one day and hide behind a shrub, Caddyshack-style, so I could confront someone when she pulls out her camera and aims it...but my kids would probably blow my cover.
"Too weird to live. Too rare to die." - Hunter S. Thompson