Tuesday
5/21/04
Tough Indeed.
As Memorial Day approaches I realize that summer, like a bushel of over-ripe August tomatoes, is upon us. It also seems that some blog reviews of Austin Murphy’s "How Tough Could It Be?" are starting to ripen as well, so I may as well get off the pot and have my say about my copy.
I’d begin by noting that rather like Rebel Dad, I really wanted to like this book. It seemed reasonable that it might offer something valuable despite its obviously gimmicky premise. An oft-travelling dad (who’s a writer by trade) signs up for a six month tour in the trenches of full time parenthood. Fair enough.
But, by page seven Austin is preparing to make the decision to stay home: "Sitting there on the floor that January morning, I took inventory. Laura needed a wife, and I needed an excuse to stay home for a good long while." Laura needs a wife? Uh oh.
And, as it turns out, being the wife apparently means that you are entirely and completely responsible for every single home-related task. There is no sharing of chores or responsibilities between the Murphys; it’s a hardcore all-or-nothing, sink or swim household.
On his very first morning of dad duty, for instance, Austin’s son is staying home sick from school. When Austin returns from dropping his daughter off, he is informed by his wife that:
Good luck indeed. I could go on about the almost childishly adversarial vibe between Austin and his wife as they sort out whether any given daily chore has been performed properly… but you get the idea. There are an awful lot of high expectations here.
All is not lost however; over time Austin does grow as both a parent and a supportive spouse, and by the time he and his wife switch roles again it's clear that they have a much healthier relationship. The six months has actually done them so much good the book could just as well be in the Barnes & Nobel self help section for marriages.
In short, it's not a bad book by any means, I'm just not sure how much it has to offer the well seasoned at-home-dad families out there.
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Tough Indeed.
As Memorial Day approaches I realize that summer, like a bushel of over-ripe August tomatoes, is upon us. It also seems that some blog reviews of Austin Murphy’s "How Tough Could It Be?" are starting to ripen as well, so I may as well get off the pot and have my say about my copy.
I’d begin by noting that rather like Rebel Dad, I really wanted to like this book. It seemed reasonable that it might offer something valuable despite its obviously gimmicky premise. An oft-travelling dad (who’s a writer by trade) signs up for a six month tour in the trenches of full time parenthood. Fair enough.
But, by page seven Austin is preparing to make the decision to stay home: "Sitting there on the floor that January morning, I took inventory. Laura needed a wife, and I needed an excuse to stay home for a good long while." Laura needs a wife? Uh oh.
And, as it turns out, being the wife apparently means that you are entirely and completely responsible for every single home-related task. There is no sharing of chores or responsibilities between the Murphys; it’s a hardcore all-or-nothing, sink or swim household.
On his very first morning of dad duty, for instance, Austin’s son is staying home sick from school. When Austin returns from dropping his daughter off, he is informed by his wife that:
"I was going to call school to tell them Devin won’t be in today," she said. "Then I remembered, that’s your job." She gives me a peck on the cheek and, with a chipper "Good luck!," is out the door.
Good luck indeed. I could go on about the almost childishly adversarial vibe between Austin and his wife as they sort out whether any given daily chore has been performed properly… but you get the idea. There are an awful lot of high expectations here.
All is not lost however; over time Austin does grow as both a parent and a supportive spouse, and by the time he and his wife switch roles again it's clear that they have a much healthier relationship. The six months has actually done them so much good the book could just as well be in the Barnes & Nobel self help section for marriages.
In short, it's not a bad book by any means, I'm just not sure how much it has to offer the well seasoned at-home-dad families out there.
