Amanda Lamb: 21st century dads

When I write blogs for WRAL, I try to be as diplomatic as possible because I am mindful that this is not just my audience, but their audience as well.

What I have learned is that you can’t talk about certain things without ruffling feathers: politics, religion, and apparently, parenting.

Wow, didn’t see that one coming. So, I decided to tell you in the spirit of Father’s Day what my husband “is doing.”

Take dance, for example. Fathers are not allowed in the dressing room, which I am sure is challenging for single fathers who have daughters in dance. Still, my husband sat in the audience for hours on Memorial Day while I worked at WRAL. He attended the show Thursday night, and brought a pizza for us Friday night. Saturday, while I was at dance, he shuffled my old daughter and her friends to a party.

On a regular basis, he makes my daughters dinner because I tend to get home close to 7 p.m. due to the timing of the 6 p.m. news.

He often picks them up or takes them to a variety of activities including dance, swimming, chorus and birthday parties or sleepovers. He is also a six-year veteran of Y Princess with both girls, and is on deck for all overnight field trips at school that involve camping, or anything closely approaching camping.

When he is not working, or taking care of the girls, you can usually find him in the yard toiling until close to dark.

Parenting is a collaborative effort. There’s no way I could work ten hours a day, write books and raise two little girls all by myself. Sure, fathers don’t always do things the way mothers do them, but that’s OK.

Bottom line, I can be a lot of things to my daughters, but one thing I can’t be is a father …