Stay-at-Home Dad
Friday, June 15 2007
Stay-at-Home Dad
The Barbera Family, click for a larger view
When Greg Barbera lost his job as managing editor of a newspaper, it took him a while in to find another job. In fact, Greg never found another job. He began staying home with his kids, and by default he became a stay-at-home dad.
Greg has had mixed experiences in his role as the primary caregiver of his two sons, ages 7 and 3. He sometimes feels excluded by women at the neighborhood park. But he also feels tremendous satisfaction in steering the family ship.
Greg talks with Dick Gordon about how he went from feeling like had he lost his identity to reveling in his mastery of this tough job.
- Read Greg's blog
- Visits some of Greg's favorite sites for stay-at-home dads here, here, and here
YOUR STORY - John Vanzo
Koren Vanzo wrote to The Story, saying:
My husband is very colorful because of his undying need to make his point in a funny and sometimes sarcastic way.
Koren and John Vanzo
We called John and here's his story: he and his wife got married in Italy and went back there to spend their 15th anniversary. That's only fitting, since John is part Italian. While at a train station in Florence, he heard an American woman speaking loudly to the ticket agent. She commandeered John to translate. John obliged, sort of: he shouted at the agent in the silliest Italian-accented English he could muster. His performance earned him a standing ovation from the Italians, and a curt expletive from the woman. Back home in Chicago a few years later, John ran into the same American woman, who got in his face as she had before. John rose to the occasion once again.
Music heard in this story: Buona Sera Signorina by Konrad Beikircher for the album Ciao Ciao Bambina
