I noticed the comments sections in the New York Times' articles about Sarah Palin are filling up with a certain point of view--that a woman who has a special-needs newborn on top of four other children cannot fulfill the demands of both her family and the vice-presidency. "Who is going to be taking care of the kids?" the comments moan.
Want your baby's father to do more hands-on childrearing? Then you have to step back, give the precious fragile angel to pappa, and--here's the hardest part--verbally encourage the father's efforts. A new study has shown that mothers are the gatekeepers of child care, and that men's intentions and beliefs about how involved they should be in their children's care don't predict their actual roles. If the mom doesn't think the dad is doing it right, he will hand the baby over to her and sulk away in defeat. “Encouragement is very important, and really makes a difference in how much fathers participate," said one of the researchers. So practice saying it with me, "Wow, look at that! The baby really likes it the way you are doing it. You like it when things are done the wrong way, don't you, [insert baby's name here]? Honey, do you think [baby's name] believes Bush is a great president?"
