The Dad Factor

Steve does most of the cooking; I do most of the cleanup. Steve takes care of the grocery shopping; I make sure the kids' clothes fit them and are reasonably fashionable (and washed). Steve tackles most of the the PTA and school volunteering; I keep a running tab on the family schedule.

The Graham Division of Labor runs pretty clean and efficient, most of the time. Sure, we have those, "Well, I spend my life doing laundry" and "But I clean up vomit" arguments, but for the most part, we have it figured out. (Although I still do more than he does.)

So I should not have been so surprised when I got a call today from a dad in Glendale who found the "Put Your House In Order" story in the August issue "offensive."

"It's 'mom' this and 'mom' that," the reader said, furthering his point that dads these days often play an equal if not lead role in all tasks of parenthood.

It's a good reminder to the moms here at L.A. Parent to make sure we don't forget to keep dads in the editorial equation. We tend to speak directly to moms more often in the magazine because, well, they tend to make up most of our readers. But we know – just like at my house – that Dad is just as often taking kids back-to-school shopping, making lunches and sitting front and center to watch the school play.

So thanks, Glendale reader, for reminding me that dads are L.A. parents, too.