Story-time dad

Being a part-time stay-at-home dad has many perks, but solidarity with other stay-at-home dads is not one of them. I recently realized this as I sat on the public library floor in a room full of a dozen moms, each with their toddler on their lap, singing and doing the motions to kid classics like "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "The Eensy-Weensy Spider." Because staying in the house all morning, day after day, quickly becomes boring for me and Alexander, Karen suggested that on Mondays we visit our local library for a half-hour "story-time."

So this is part of our new routine, and I am getting used to being the only man in the room. Alexander, of course, is oblivious to his dad's sense of social awkwardness. Instead, he is mesmerized by the vibrant woman who reads the books, with her bucket of brightly colored egg-shakers (they accompany a song about a chicken egg). And rather than sitting in my lap like most of the other kids with their moms, Alexander tends to stand in the middle of the room, observing everyone else with awe-filled eyes. Hopefully in a few weeks, we will both feel more at home at story-time.