Two weeks ago, ABC World News With Diane Sawyer aired a positive segment talking about the “modern American family” and how stay-at-home dads fit into the equation. We were fortunate to have one of our own active NYC Dads Group members, Dave Lesser, his daughter Penny, and his wife Allister participate in a meaningful and compelling piece on the importance of being a caring, involved, and competent father.
Good Morning America, also on ABC, enjoyed the segment so much, they decided to use a lot of the interviews, footage, and b-roll to develop a more comprehensive segment (4 minutes long!) – Modern Families: Stay At Home Dads On the Rise.
On a day when Dave’s daughter Penny had pink eye and clearly was not herself, and wife heads off to work, Dave agreed to have a camera crew follow him around for the entire day to catch a “day in the life” of an at-home dad. Napping on her dad, consoling her while she is upset, trekking over to the pediatrician’s office, preparing meals, and pretend play as his daughter is the princess … no doubt Dave Lesser demonstrates his role in such a positive light. You can truly see the joy and passion he gets from being the primary caregiver – certainly more rewarding than his previous career in law.
My favorite part of the segment was the unique roundtable discussion with three of our NYC Dads Group members at the NY Children’s Museum of the Arts: Bruce Razza, Rune Lund, and Saxon Palmer. These dads were on the hot seat sharing their candor, honest feelings about perceptions in society and on the playground, what a dads’ social/support group gives you, and how they stay engaged in their children’s lives. Saxon Palmer said it so well: what does the NYC Dads Group community provide? “knowing you are not alone … that I got this posse of other guys that are doing the same thing so I am not an anomaly!”
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