About Stay-At-Home Dads

How many Stay-At-Home Dads (SAHDs) are there? Estimates vary widely, from 150,000 to 2.5 million (depending on the source) in America alone. There may be no way to know exactly how many of us there are, but we do know that our number is growing. Some polls indicate that approximately 60% of fathers are considering becoming SAHDs, and 75% would if they thought they could. This is not surprising – men want to be with their children, too. With the rise of co-parenting, an increase in awareness that fathers also have parenting ability, and the new advocacy for fathers, more and more dads are taking the opportunity to spend more time with their children.

Dads are parents, too, even though their style of parenting may be quite different from that of mothers. Society is still becoming aware of this, however, and most sources are behind the times. Most parenting books – and almost all parenting magazines – are written for mothers. They simply leave fathers out in the cold, or mention them as an afterthought. SAHDSurvival.com is not just for fathers who are at home with the children full-time – it’s for every dad: Stay-at-home Dads, Work-at-home Dads, and Work-outside-the-home Dads. The Survival Guides are not just for SAHDs. They were created for all dads, and contain information every dad can use, whether you’re at home full-time or not. They equip fathers with numerous skills, but they also contain material for SAHDS – information you’ll need if you are, or are considering becoming, a SAHD.

How many how-to books are on the market for men who want to be SAHDs? Currently, the Library of Congress only lists five on the subject. Many other books exist, but they usually approach the subject not from a how-to perspective, but from a “my experience” or memoir-type of perspective. That’s really not very many practical, how-to manuals, considering the number of SAHDs.

The SAHD Survival Guides were written as a manual for dads. They comprise a course in all of the practical aspects. They were written out of frustration with the available tools. I already had some skills before I had children – I could cook and clean and play already – but I still needed to learn about other things. None of the books had everything I needed (and almost all of them were written for moms! I can’t tell you how many times authors assumed I was a woman, and I don’t need to tell you how insulting that is). Gender insults aside, I wanted more than just a book – I needed charts and forms to use, and it would have been nice to find some audio files so I didn’t have to read so much. Reading takes time, and I didn’t have much of that. I needed to learn how to survive in the kitchen, plan menus, save money, juggle kids while I cooked, and deal with special needs and special diets. I needed a way to keep track of everything – appointments, groceries we needed, what clothing size the kids are in today (it will change tomorrow) – and do it all while keeping my head on straight.

So, my wife and I read every book we could get our hands on, and over the course of seven years, we’ve consumed hundreds upon hundreds of books. Now, I have all the skills I need, but you probably don’t want have to spend as much time as I did learning what you need to know. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Why spend every free minute for the next seven years or more reading, learning what you need to know, and creating your own organizer, budget form, menu, chore charts and calendar, when you can take advantage of all the work I did?

I have taken the best information from thousands of sources (books, articles, interviews with experts, etc.), and from experience – both other fathers’ experience and my own – and have compiled it into information on this site, as well the Survival Guides, the Survival Guide Email Courses, and the Survival Guide Boiled-Down Books.

On this site, you will find a lot of information available to you. You will find free information on the site pages, and you will also find information products for sale. These include the Survival Guides – information, e-books and materials on CD or instant download, and Survival Guide E-Courses (lessons emailed directly to you).

Member of:

CHADD (Children and Adults with ADD)

CHADD Provides information and support for families coping with ADD/ADHD and publishes Attention Magazine.

ACFC

(American Coalition for Fathers and Children)

ACFC Promotes

co-parenting and advocates for the rights of fathers.