DEAR ABBY: I'm a stay-at-home mom with three children. My first, age 19, is from my first marriage. The 4- and 7-year-old are from my second.
My husband believes that because he has provided a home for my son and continues to be the primary wage-earner, that it's not his job to help with getting the kids up for school, nor his responsibility to discipline them. He seems to feel entitled to pick and choose when he is parenting and being a husband. His "I'm the man of the house" is wearing thin, and I'm feeling hopeless.
I have told him how this makes me feel, and that the kids aren't learning some necessary skills from him. Where do I go from here? -- FRUSTRATED IN SCHENECTADY, N.Y.
DEAR FRUSTRATED: When a man has to resort to "I'm the man of the house," it usually means he's not much of a man.
Please point out to your husband that one of the most important components in parenting is consistency on the part of both parents. When this man married you, he accepted partial responsibility for your son. And when he fathered more children, he should have realized that parenthood, and enforcing the rules, is a partnership.
Real men stand up and be counted -- and I'm not talking about their paychecks. A marriage counselor may be able to get your husband to recognize that fact.