Only Fun For Stay-At-Home Dad

This Guy Says To Forget The Housework

(CBS)  In this week's My New Life segment, National Correspondent Tracy Smith went to Bethesda, Md., to meet a dad who made the decision to quit his job and raise his children, even though he was making more money than his wife. This Mr. Mom has very specific ideas on how it's done.

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Mike Paranzino used to wear a tie. But he's traded his high-powered job on Capitol Hill for racing cars with 4-year-old son Cameron and changing the diapers of the lovely Emily, who is 4 months old.

"I had a happy childhood," Paranzino says, "I had a wonderful childhood. Close to my parents and close to my brothers. And I wanted to try and recreate that for my children."

Paranzino, who prefers the title "full-time father," says he is never home. While wife Heather goes off to her job as a scientist, he heads outdoors to playgrounds and parks, making friends with both moms and kids.

He says, "I stashed enough diapers, enough water, enough formula, enough snack. We've done six, we've done eight hours out straight."

His biggest stress, he says, is keeping it fresh till mommy gets home.

"You have ten hours a day you have to fill," he notes, "You have to keep it interesting. And original. So that can be stressful."

But Mike Paranzino's definition of full-time fatherhood doesn't include cooking or cleaning. His entire day is spent with the kids.

He notes, "There's a Yellow Pages filled with companies that want to clean your house, cut your grass. They want to cook your food. I signed on to raise the kids, not to clean the house."

No sweeping? No laundry?

"Where can I sign up?" asks Jen Singer and her crew of stay-at-home moms. They applaud Mike Paranzino's choice. But isn't housework part of the gig?

"If I didn't have to think about the housework, this would be like a big vacation," Singer says.