We are very excited about the birth of FamiliesRising.org! But before we tell you exactly why, we’d like to introduce ourselves. We are representatives of a subset of involved dads and moms who practice equally shared parenting. This means that both parents, in an intact family, share equally in breadwinning, housework, childraising and recreation time. No one parent rules the home; no one parent has the primary career. Both parents have deep intimate relationships with their children, and both have equal say in tending their childhoods. And both parents place a high value on time with each other, time to pursue hobbies, time to do what matters most to each individual. Right now, we are working to raise awareness of this lifestyle – its joys and challenges – through our website and blog at www.equallysharedparenting.com. We are looking forward to doing so through FamiliesRising.org as well.

Is equally shared parenting the right family model for everyone? Certainly not. Is it better than more traditional lifestyles? We’re not even going to go there! The right lifestyle is the one that fits an individual family – that makes parents and children happy and whole. We’re not here to convince anyone that equal sharing is the answer to all that ails American parenthood. But it is a real option.

Right now, however, life isn’t so easy for an equally sharing parent. The corporate world is not yet ready to respond to our needs for flexible, reduced-hours positions with decent pay, appropriate benefits and stimulating career paths. Government policies do not guarantee adequate maternity leave and equivalent paternity leave, or more generally, parental leave for either gender at any stage of childraising. Fathers, and mothers too, must overcome the weird looks and real discrimination that come from downsizing a career to care for children.

All of these challenges match up with the goals of FamiliesRising.org. So we are honored to join forces to make real change happen. We’ll be talking about change that can happen today within individuals and families, as well as change that will require the outside forces of government or businesses. And a wonderful sign of the times is the creation of FamiliesRising – a literal symbol of the fact that the MomsRising manifesto points affect all family members, not just mothers.