Time for a Reboot! New Direction for our Blog…

For those of you who tune into our weekly blog, we’re going to put a different spin on things. I have a lot of ideas running through my head at the moment…so bear with me.  If you read our weekly posts, I (Sheila) write the majority of the blogs from a working mom and wife’s perspective.  However, our initial premise when we first started out was to emphasize stories about daddy and daughter and all things stay-at-home dad’esque.  We would highlight the nuances of their relationship and the challenges along the way.  But as time went on, things changed.  The blog started to evolve…but in a different direction.  The discussions began to shift. The truth is, there are several stay-at-home dad blogs and the dads are writing them, NOT the moms.  But here I was journaling all of our chronicles strictly through my own lens…more specifically…a woman’s view.  I started question our purpose for both the book and blog.  I asked myself, what are you trying to accomplish?  There’s no question, I’m extremely passionate about our story, our life and the message we’re trying to convey.  What I’m trying to say is our ‘Maya & Me’ brand is not so much about a stay-at-home dad and his daughter, but more so the significance behind our story as told through the eyes of a career woman, mother and wife in a modernized society.  After starting a global development course as part of my masters program, it all became crystal clear.  Our story isn’t so strange or uncommon in this country.  We’re hardly a phenomenon.  As a matter of fact, I know several women in my company who are the breadwinners. But around the world, the result is very different.  The decision Ernesto and I made 5 years ago to shift our roles was a conscious one.  Socially and culturally, there may have been some scrutiny (“Oh?  He stays home while you work?  Hmmm interesting…guess that’s a thing now”).  Economically, the decision was as easy as it was necessary.  We were sinking financially, but when we crossed over, our life changed forever.  Once we acknowledged our individual strengths, suddenly the puzzle pieces fit.  I was the natural breadwinner.  Ernesto was instinctually a nurturer, the caregiver.  In other countries, specifically underdeveloped areas, where they face severe economic turmoil…imagine the unrest that would ensue if more women chose to be the primary providers.  That would certainly make news, particularly in places like Cambodia or Palestine.  The world has a long way to go.  Countries in Africa and Asia still make it impossible for women to attend college or vote, much less work.  But as more and more stories about diverse lifestyles and liberated households become mainstream, the impact on the world will be epic.  In my opinion, it already has.  Maya’s views and perspectives on gender roles have been shaped by experiences that are completely natural and normal in her eyes.  “Mommy goes to the office and works all day.  Daddy braids my hair, packs my lunch, takes me to school and practices gymnastics with me.  Ho hum…just another day.”  So with that, allow us to begin anew with a blog that celebrates women around the world who, along with their families, take risks despite old, archaic stereotypes and labels that are imposed by societies and designed to stifle and oppress.  As I write this, I imagine how the world will be in the next century and what strides might be made through a simple little blog…