Moms and Dads at the Park

I took the children to the city park today and observed an unusual group: three stay-at-home dads and their offspring. Of course the park was filled with the usual other moms which included, the frazzled mother, the fit bod work-out all the time mom, a hot mom or two and an overweight mom. I sat down to watch my group and was seated not far from men….I didn’t mean to eaves-drop, it just happened. They began talking about what percentile their children were in for weight and height and then the topics changed to ADHD. One of the men was new to the group so I assumed this was all preliminary, get-to-know you talk, before moving into “man talk”. So as I was listening to the three men behind me, I kept expecting the conversation to move to different topics. During my thirty minutes at the park, the closest I heard the conversation diverge from parenting was when one mentioned re-doing his kitchen. I was amused when one of the father said to his daughter, “Go play, there are a ton of kids here and you are with me all day!” How many times have I voiced that to my own children or heard another exasperated mom say that?

This came two days after I spent a morning at my local park where I know the faces of the moms and kids. I am not one to engage people in a conversation a lot especially this particular group, simply because I know where it will go. The topics for the day were: food allergies, preschool admissions, and potty training….STIMULATING. I turned to my one friend that I have made through park visits and told her about my latest photography project of a shooting a favorite musician at a night club.

The question I have for myself and all the other park moms and dads (and the parents on my street too for that matter), is; "How long do we have to talk shop, and isn’t there something more to our lives than our kids?" I guess, being Thursday with a crying daycare baby on my lap (really!) I feel these moments more intensely. Also, maybe I was only cut out for this stay-at-home mom gig for a particular period of time. I know when it is over I will miss it, but until then, can’t we all just talk about something other than what size diaper you kid wears?

September 18, 2008