By Anna Krejci
News-Chronicle
About a dozen fathers in Brown County have banded together in support of men who find themselves at-home caretakers of their children.

Members of the Northeast Wisconsin At Home Dads have left careers entirely or work less than full-time to raise their kids.

Bruce Cantrall of Green Bay brought inspiration for the club with him when he and his wife moved from Iowa where he was part of a similar group.

Since its conception in 2001, the dads club now has 11 members from professions such as emergency medical technicians, businessmen, minister, artist, newspaper editor and computer consultant. Members range from 20 to 40 years of age.

"It's just to give a place for stay-at-home dads to get together," Cantrall said.

The image of an Emperor Penguin, a black-and-white, Antarctic bird that plays a crucial role in rearing offspring, is the club's emblem.

Why is the emblem a male penguin? It just so happens the female penguin lays eggs at the feet of her male partner and goes off to gather food for 65 days, according to National Geographic online. For two months the males stand together in tight packs, with the eggs wedged between warm folds of feathered skin and their feet.

While the stay-at-home male penguins seem to have no trouble finding one another, it took Cantrall several years to find and recruit any men to the group. Women are not excluded from participating in the group's activities, which include zoo and museum visits, as well as lunch at a local fast food restaurant with an indoor playground.

While the members said some child-rearing social groups exclude men, Cantrall said he has seen a movement for them to be more inclusive.

A group at his local church changed its name from "Mommy and Me" to "Parents and Kids" three years ago, he said.

Jobs have been exchanged for diapers, strollers and a closer relationship with children. George Skolanski left a 13-year career in business administration to raise his 3-year-old son. He and his wife decided only one of them would work.

"It just so happened that her insurance was better, her working hours were better, so I stayed home," he said. "But I would say I had a successful career already."

Cantrall was an assistant administrator at a college in Iowa for 10 years when he decided to dedicate major time to raising his three children, a 6- and 4-year-old and a 23-month-old.

Van Zeeland, who worked with a local, TV news station and now works 48 hours a month for County Rescue as an EMT, said an estimated $17,000 per year daycare bill helped motivate him to stay home with his 5- and 2-year-old children.

Van Zeeland's shifts last from 6 p.m.-6 a.m., so he synchronizes his kids' daytime naps with his own.

He said the group is positive because the kids become comfortable with other kids and dads in the group. The benefits of staying home with a child is that they see an adult interact with another adult and know how to socialize with adults themselves, whereas kids in daycare mostly interact with other kids, he said.

Van Zeeland also said he believes kids without a male role model are more likely to get into trouble with the law.

Whether or not dads like the title "Mr. Mom" is a source of some controversy. "It doesn't bother me in the least," Skolanski said.

Van Zeeland used to be indifferent to the term.

"Now it's starting to bother me a little bit more. I think it's a cut on Mom. Moms are definitely needed in the kids' lives, and we can't replace them," Van Zeeland said.

Greg Wattling joined the group a year ago. As a minister, he is in the process of starting a church. His wife, an engineer, is the "breadwinner."

His three children call him "Daddy Daycare," based on a recent movie title. "They compare me to that more often than Mr. Mom," he said.

Men can parent just as well as women, Van Zeeland said.

"We handle pretty much everything," even the jobs thought to be dreaded by men, he said. "We can change diapers at light speed."

There's nothing awkward about loving and raising your kids, he said.

Although, there might be something awkward about using baby equipment designed with women in mind.

"Diaper bags are not really designed for stay-at-home dads. Strollers are designed for people that are under 6 feet tall," said Cantrall, who is 6-feet, 3-inches in height and the club's 2005 Dad of the Year award recipient.

It's a challenge to walk a baby in a typical $12, umbrella stroller while bent over, he said.

Until recently, men's restrooms lacked diaper-changing stations, he observed.

Some schools still distribute literature asking for volunteer "room mothers" instead of room parents, he said.

Northeast Wisconsin At Home Dads welcomes new members. There no dues and no attendance requirements.