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Moms and Dads Have Different Parenting Styles

July 29, 2011 by Lance Somerfeld

It’s no secret that so many couples share different parenting styles.  As the primary caregiver in our family, I am the more serious parent when it comes to discipline, routines, going to sleep on time, and reducing sweets.  Not surprisingly, I am sure my wife comes off as the parent who is more fun.  Most importantly, we as a couple need to accept each others differences, communicate often, and let each other parent to the best of our abilities.

Consequently, I am the “gatekeeper” in our family as well and sometimes I push my wife away from getting involved by shooting her a dirty look that says, “don’t talk about the subject with our son right now because it is a sensitive topic to him.”  It’s not her fault – How should she know?  Our son often asks me to be the one who reads books to him each night – my wife would really like to participate in this activity – instead of insisting sometimes that she take a turn, I step in and do it each night.  I could go on about the challenges as a result of our unique parenting styles, but I will stop at this statement – our son is very fortunate to have two parents that nurture, love, play, and care for him in different ways.

On the topic of mom vs. dad regarding parenting styles, you will enjoy the segment above that aired this week on WPIX (channel 11) in New York.  WPIX featured one of the active dads within our NYC Dads Group community as well as his lovely wife.   This week: Parenting Styles on Mom’s the Word with Dr. Lawrence Balter and Darleen and Gregory Jobson-Larkin from Richmond Hill who have four kids of their own (ages 8, 6, 4 and 10 months).  What fascinated me about this clip is how much fun Greg & Darleen look like they are having talking about this sensitive topic – they make parenting of four children look so damn easy!

What do you do when you and your husband or wife don’t agree on things when it comes to the kids?

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Filed Under: NYC, parenting styles

About Lance Somerfeld

Lance Somerfeld, co-founder of City Dads Group, lives with his wife and two children 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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