Stay-at-home dads break stereotypes

'I think the greatest gift you can give your kids is time,' father says

NEW Zoo. Six Flags. Lifest music festival. Camping.

Gabby, 12, Robert, 10, and Marcus, 8, will experience these field trips and more this summer with their father, Bruce Cantrall.
Not to mention Cub Scout meetings or soccer, swimming and gymnastics practices.
"Our summer is pretty chalked up," Cantrall admits.
A stay-at-home dad for more than a decade, Cantrall said his children have been exposed to some unique experiences by having a full-time father.
"My kids have probably been to 35 children's and science museums in the country. … They wouldn't have been able to experience that at all" if both parents worked, he said.
The prevalence of stay-at-home dads in the U.S. has boomed since Cantrall first began raising his children full time in 2000, increasing from 93,000 that year to 154,000 in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
"It's getting more common these days. It isn't like it was 10 years ago," he said.
Cantrall never envisioned being a stay-at-home dad. He received a bachelor's degree in computer science and worked as a computer network manager at an Iowa college.
But when Gabby was born in 1999, he took the reins of the household, part time the first year and full time since then.
The arrangement was a "natural" one for the Green Bay family: Bruce's wife, Suellen, has an electrical engineering degree and earned twice as much in a computer technical support job.
"It was kind of natural for me to stay home with the kids. But it was never a plan, it worked out that way," Bruce Cantrall said. "Once you figure out how expensive three kids are to put in day care, I mean, why are you working? You're working for $2 an hour to have somebody else raise your kids."

Stereotypes

But even as stay-at-home dads become increasingly common, stereotypes and myths persist."It's still hard for people to accept stay-at-home dads. It's easier, but not the normal," said Mark Thiry, an Ashwaubenon stay-at-home father of three. "There is a stigma. I've had people say, 'Can't you get a job?'"
Source http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/