One of the first things I noticed when we embarked on this great adventure was just how tailed to Mum everything seemed to be.
I get it, they’re likely to be the ones doing the majority of the caregiving, but still, as a hands-on dad I couldn’t help but feel a little…pushed out by things. Nothing massive for sure, but little things like how a good chunk of the online resources are written as if Mum is reading exclusively. Or how pretty much every baby group in my area is advertised as a Mum and Baby group. It’s far from the end of the world, but it can be pretty intimidating and unwelcoming to a new Dad.
I knew I was excluded and was generally okay with it… Until the kid was about four months old. Family went out to dinner. We were having a good time, baby needed changing, I grabbed him and MY diaper bag (yes, I had my own). I went to the restroom and discovered the only changing table was in the women’s room.
I knocked, said hello, and went in. The only woman (teenager? College student? Younger than me, at least) who came in while I was changing the baby was polite and even offered her help.
But this US chain restaurant didn’t even consider the possibility that someone other than a woman would change a baby. Come on.
Same thing happened to me in a German restaurant. I had to change my son in The ladies’ restroom. To be fair, none of the women didn’t mind me there, which was a relief.