If Dads Are Irrelevant, Moms Are to Blame

Stephanie over at Empowering LDS Women linked to If Dads Are Irrelevant, Moms Are to Blame.  Very interesting article.  My impression as I came to the end of the article was that we need to value parenting more, whether it is parenting from a mother or a father.  We need to be teaching values in our families!  The article sums up:

Overall, these figures show that mothers are still doing the bulk of the childcare work within the family, but that fathers are involved too and that the degree to which fathers are involved is increasing significantly. This tells me that it is time for fathers to be given some of the credit and some of the blame (to the extent that credit/blame belongs on the shoulders of either parent) and it is time for researchers to stop assuming that only the choices and actions of the mother are relevant.

I don't want to turn this into a debate about who contributes more or who deserves more blame (for being absent or for screwing up while being present). I don't think that will help mothers or fathers or children. However, I do think that researchers and the media need to rethink their portrayal of mothers and fathers.

I also think that our society, as a whole, needs to put more value on parenting.  Mothers and fathers alike should be celebrated for the contribution that they make to their children's lives, rather than being blamed and ridiculed for everything that goes wrong.