What You See; What You Really Get

One father in the Corono (Calif.) PTA, a past president, thinks his daughter gives him adoring looks when he shows up at school as part of his duties. Maybe she does: she is, after all, still in elementary school ....

It seems more likely though, that the adoring look is him seeing what he wants as he mixes the business of being in his daughter's life and the pleasure. The more likely scenario between father and child is found with young Nathan Upfold. The South African 4-year-old works with his hypnotist father and grandfather as part of their show. Dad thinks he has everything under control and his son just wants to perform. The son believes he has the power to produce extra candy from pops and leave school at midday. And he does.

Face it. The kids are in control no matter what people from outside may think they see. The U.S. president-elect, Barack Obama, will soon have the ideal dad situation: ultimate authority and getting to work from home. Most likely he will find, as have other First SAHDs, that while everyone says they want the perfect stay at home dad situation ... the reality of that perfection is pretty much as Teddy Roosevelt said of first daughter Alice, "I can either run the country or control Alice, not both." He chose the to run the country, because he actually had a chance to do that.