By SusanC HERWriter Guide October 29, 2010 - 5:20pm

Ever feel that the standard in parenting is far higher for mothers, than fathers?

We fawn over the Dad who takes his kids to the park every Saturday but think nothing of the mother who does it every other day. When Dad shows up for a school activity, he's a hero. When mom does not, she's disengaged from her kids.

My childrens school always calls me first - never my husband, even though we have no "first person on the list".

Not to mention that mothers were blamed in the past (by doctors, no less) for everything from Autism to behavioral problems to children being born with challenges or handicaps. The fact that their fathers were completely uninvolved never seemed to occur to anyone as an underlying cause for the lack of advancement or progression in children. It was Mom - the person who had to deal with it all - alone.

Don't get me wrong, I love involved Dads (and for some strange reason, a Dad so engaged with his kids is a total turn on for most women, including me) and todays Dads are a hundred times more active with their kids than generations before. But I hear far more outrage when a mother does something considered wrong, rather than a Dad.

Thoughts from you Moms out there? Or Dads?

~Susan