Lucky Me

Over the past six weeks, I’ve been away for overnight trips every other week. Luckily, I am married to one of the most hands-on dads I’ve ever seen. Hubby Hawks tackles dinners, baths, PJs, tooth brushing, stories, diapers, sippie cups, breakfasts and car seats maybe better than I do. He can be found mingling with the other moms in the cul-de-sac watching the kids ride bikes in the street while I’m banging away on my lap top or off at night class working towards my graduate degree. He fills me in on the latest neighborhood news.

Hubby Hawks grew up in the middle of eight kids in his small town Catholic family and although I’ve never seen his dad cook dinner or change a diaper, somehow he came away with zero sense of traditional male-female stereotypes. He cooks nearly every night and thank God for that or the rest of us might starve. Or we would eat things like tomatoes or protein bars for dinner and surely that can’t be enough to sustain two growing boys.

We both are dedicated to our careers, but somehow Hubby Hawks manages to leave it at the office and I’m always carrying mine around. It buzzes at me constantly on my blackberry, the looming Wi-fi penetrating all sides, my lap top begging me to it. Somehow, he doesn’t see the point in multi-tasking whereas I am an addict. I envy him.

Recently, in the midst of my latest marketing-to-moms research someone asked me: why moms? Aren’t dads more involved now more than ever? Aren’t parents more likely to share traditional “mom” roles? So, why focus on moms? Is anyone really just focused on moms anymore?

The answer is a resounding yes. While I celebrate the ground we’ve covered as moms and dads who are -- both sides -- responsible for developing the little people we’ve created, the data shows that moms are still making 85% of the family’s purchase decisions. Dads are more willing to change a diaper, but moms are more likely to decide what kind of diaper dad will be changing. The decision-making doesn’t stop at baby products. Moms are deciding what kind of vehicle the family will drive, where they should bank, what healthcare services they will use.

I thank God for the gift I’ve gotten in such a wonderful husband and father. And I’m also thankful that this wonderful man will put whatever brand of diaper on our boys that I choose.