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Freaky Fortnight: Stay-At-Home-Mom & Working Husband Switch Places

November 4, 2009 by Lance Somerfeld

What would happen if a working husband and his wife, a stay-at-home mom, were to trade places for two weeks?

You are about to find out! Freaky Fortnight, is an experiment that a Brooklyn couple (Susan Burton & Michale Agger) decided to follow through on, and tell about it via their blog entries on Slate. As an at-home dad, I enjoyed reading the insight shared by this involved father and at-home mom team. As my friend Matt S. (who shared this witty experiment with me) put it, there was “a lot of head nodding.” Some laughter as well, based on the witty commentary and visualization used by these talented writers. So, nod away as you delve into this two-week experiment…

Some background on the family involved that was included in their first Freaky Fortnight blog entry: “For the next two weeks, Mike and I are trading places. Each day I will get on the subway and go to his office at Slate. He will hang out in Brooklyn with our two sons: Nick, the 4-year-old, and Will, who’s 1. I will do Mike’s exact job—edit his writers, banter with his co-workers. Mike will do my exact job—take care of our kids, try to squeeze in work time. It’s a Ward-and-June switch, with a contemporary update. In our regular lives, Mike’s Ward wears Vans and is home in time to help with bed and bath; my June owns a single apron, pilfered from an organic grocery store, and has a part-time baby sitter so that she can write. What we are doing is more like switching the balance. Mike will become the parent who’s mostly at home, and I will become the parent who’s mostly at work.”

If more families engaged in a similar “experiment,” I wonder if there would be more at-home dads out there.

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Filed Under: at-home parenting, gender / sexuality, NYC Tagged With: gender roles, magazines, stay-at-home parents, working parents

About Lance Somerfeld

Lance Somerfeld, a co-founder of City Dads Group, lives with his wife and son in New York City. He frequently contributes to the conversation about modern fatherhood, work-life balance, shifting gender roles, and brand’s marketing to dads. He has appeared on local and national television, including CNN, Today and Katie. He has been quoted by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, GQ, Parenting and The Atlantic.

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