Dad's Day Out

Since my wife had to work and CC’s wife was sick, we were both on baby duty today. Wanting to hang out, but not wanting to do the same thing we always do, we attempted a new challenge and took our sons to the mall. I didn’t see anything wrong with the idea of two men hanging out together at the mall with their infant sons, but apparently my wife and the world saw it differently.

The experience itself was fine, as we navigated getting and eating lunch, threading through crowds and stores with strollers, and an afternoon bottle stop. What I wasn’t expecting was a woman walking up to us and asking if our sons were twins. Both are white, blonde-haired, and blue-eyed. But they don’t really look all that similar. I suppose if we surmised that they weren’t identical twins, then it could be more likely, but still a stretch. But the question got me thinking bigger to if our sons were twins, then what did that make CC and I?

Suddenly, my wife’s heckling came back to me. And every look from every mall patron took on a whole new meaning. On top of that, I was pretty sure that everyone assumed that I was the girl part of the relationship. What am I doing wrong that I give off an aura of not only being gay, but also girlish gay?! But maybe the better question to ask is what is wrong with the world that two men can’t take their sons to the mall together without the world assuming they’re gay? It would not have been the same if we were women.

In the end, we had a laugh over it and didn’t really care. It didn’t stop us from continuing our day. It was merely unexpected and interesting.