Househusband by Ad Hudler 
Release date: 2002 / 294 pages
Synopsis (from back cover): “Lincoln Menner is finding out just how hard it is to be a woman. When his wife, Jo, was offered her dream job, Linc supported her wholeheartedly, leaving his thriving landscape business in Los Angeles and moving to Rochester, New York. This was a chance to escape the cloying needs and atrocious tastes of his celebrity clientele, start over in fresh surroundings, and spend a little quality time with their three-year-old daughter, Violet. But Linc had no idea what it really meant to be a househusband….”
First lines: This is a good day. Though it began as gray and sluggish as simmering oatmeal, it has steadily grown into an energizing, high-speed puree, ever since noon, when I got the phone call from Jo.”
Review: Whew… I loved this just as much as I had hoped (and I had high hopes!). Last month I reviewed Man of the House and thoroughly enjoyed it, but had a feeling that this predecessor would be even better — and it was.
Hudler’s take on becoming a stay-at-home dad is priceless. He takes his job as the primary care-giver very, very seriously. In fact, if Adler’s sense of humor wasn’t so compelling and infectious, I could see how other stay-at-home readers could be a bit intimidated. From his “no Barbies or Little Mermaid” rule to his impromptu volcano building to his mouth-watering recipes, he really tackles this role to make a type A, perfectionist proud.
However, his excellence is never off-putting, because his struggles with his identity, and with finding meaning — not to mention the gender balancing act he must navigate – are really funny and surprisingly astute, too. We empathize with him, even when we envy him…
I wonder if his “outsider” status as a male allows him to approach the roles of a stay-at-home mom from a fresh, wise perspective. For example, his take on why women who stay home to parent tend to kill houseplants:
“Most housewives kill plants, they drown them, and it’s easy to see why. Housewives spend their days filling voids. Stomachs and cookie jars and dry potted plants, sugar bowls and egos and bathtubs and soap dispensers and refrigerators and juice glasses and pillowcases and washing machines and cat boxes and toilet-paper holders. We subconsciously think that if we fill everything to the very top we’ll have more time before it needs to be filled again. Clean your plate. One more sip. Just another inch of water. I tell the women who call that the common house plant is one thing they should neglect, and the more they ignore it the more it will flourish. But still they water because water is good and clean and everything likes water, and as the leaves continue to yellow and drop to the carpeting they pour on more and more and more until it drowns and dies is set out with the garbage on Wednesday night.”
Now, I am not a stay-at-home mom, but I still loved spending a couple of hours with Linc, and I think most women would, too…
Two thumbs up!! 
I put this one on my TBR list after reading your review of Man of the House – I’m glad you enjoyed this one as well!