Calling Donna Reed!

I apologize to everyone in advance because I am not a techie. But this clip from YouTube (which for the longest time I thought was spelled “utube”) is so awesome I had to face my fear and give embedded URLing a try: The World According to Bernadette

In this clip from “The Big Bang Theory” (which if you don’t watch you are totally missing out – nerd humor rules!) Bernadette tells her fiancée that she has solved the problem of her not wanting kids. He can be the stay at home dad and she’ll go out and live a rich and rewarding life among adults and he can be fulfilled by changing poopy diapers and picking Cheerios out of their child’s nose. His lukewarm response says it all.

The only reason this clip is hilarious is because the whole episode gets you so focused on what issues Bernadette must have for not liking children. Let’s face it, subconsciously we all think you must be really twisted if you are a chick and don’t want to have a couple of rugrats. Even I was giggling at her meltdowns at the kid’s birthday party. Whoo-hoo, isn’t it funny watching a grown professional woman crumble like a house of cards when confronted by a pack of smart-ass kids?

Isn’t it even mildly interesting that in our advanced day and age that the gender roles in this one particular area still seem so stuck in the 50’s.

I will give a shout out to my single full-time dads and stay at home dad (Matt and Ethan you guys rock). But for the most part dads like these are unicorns. Magical mythical creatures who you’ve heard stories about but never have actually seen with your own eyes. I remember when I told one of my male colleagues that I wanted my husband to be a stay at home dad, he asked me if I wanted to marry him. I told him I was pretty sure his wife wouldn’t be too thrilled.

I’m just putting this out there – I really want to hear what you have to say and what you’ve experienced. Because I’m willing to concede that I could be jaded from working in such a male dominated industry. I think the percentage of female financial advisors is really embarrassing – like less than 10%.

I don’t know about you, but I just get sick of defending my decision to have a career and a family. There are too many people who act like I must be missing a critical mothering gene because I also happen to love what I do. If I have one more 55-year-old guy give me the “sad eyes” when I tell him that I do indeed have children and work full-time I’m going to knock him into next week.

So here’s this week’s assignment: Come up with some fun and outrageous ways to encourage people to embrace gender equality when it comes to being a stay at home parent. I’d love to see a man or two quit his job to become a more fulfilled dad! I want some big ideas people! Surprise me, delight me, but above all inspire me!