Welcome to the February Carnival of Natural Parenting: Love and partners!
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month we’re writing about how a co-parent has or has not supported us in our dedication to natural parenting. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
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This month’s Carnival of Natural Parenting asked me how my co-parent supports my natural parenting choices.  What a great topic!  I can without hesitation say my husband is an essential part of our parenting team.  He doesn’t just support it he is the core of it.

My family is called “reverse traditional.”  Traditional meaning that we are a one income family and reverse meaning that Mommy is that one income.  I’ve talked before about my journey to this spot.  I don’t really like the term reverse traditional since I think it assumes there is anything traditional these days.  I don’t like Breadwinning Mom either.  I couldn’t do what I do without Pete’s “job” being done at home.  He is winning bread as much as I am.  Mr. Mom is offensive to most, although the fact that the movie by that name was even created is a step forward in my opinion.  Exposure equals normalizing.  The more reverse traditional dads we see the better!

So, what does a reverse traditional Dad look like?  Want to go on a safari?  Let’s travel into the wilds to view some of the most elusive fathers in the world!

The Emperor Penguin Dad spends up to two months without eating while keeping his unhatched babies warm.  Once hatched, this superstar dad feeds the babies with a milky white substance produced by a gland in his esophagus (also note the “takes a village” technique of all the males huddling together to help keep the babies warm).

Sea Horse Dads are the only males on earth that gestate and give birth to their children (200 hundred of them).  They even go through painful labor.

The Red Fox Dad could win the awards for father and mate of the year.  He lets mom have her babymoon for 3 months while he provides food and protection for her and her pups.  Once mom is on her feet again he continues to father his pups.  He even homeschools!  He teaches his pups how to forage for food by burying scraps in the ground, thus giving them skills necessary for their survival.  (In a telling coincidence when I searched for “red fox father and pup” in a google image search, Google said “did you mean red fox mother and pup?”)

The Midwife Toad Dad carries his incubating eggs around on his legs until they are ready to hatch.  The Darwin Frog carries them in his vocal sac through the tadpole stage.

Daddy Flamingo helps mom build the nest and shares in incubating the eggs.  Both mom and dad can feed the hatchlings a milk-like substance.

Ostrich Dads not only incubate the eggs but parent them with continued protection and homeschool them in survival skills.
The Dyak Fruit Bat Dad is the only male mammal known to lactate and nurse its young (although domesticated goats sometimes do too).
The Human Dad is known to serve as a locomotion device for pre-ambulatory young.
Human Dad forms strong nurturing bonds with their young.
Human Dad does what is called “sleep sharing” or “co-sleeping” with the young.
Human Dad is naturally a playful animal and often can be found playing with his young.
Human Dad feeds his young and teaches societal norms like “table manners.”
The human species often uses mechanical means of locomotion.  Here Human Dad can be seen teaching his young to operate a mechanical locomotion device.

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Carnival of Natural Parenting -- Hobo Mama and Code Name: MamaVisit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
(This list will be updated Feb. 9 with all the carnival links, and all links should be active by noon EST. Go to Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama for the most recently updated list.)

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