News Flash: Gay Dads Can Be Toxic Too

I always laughed at the word ‘toxic,’ but this Facebook group was a real wake-up call

David Kaufman
LEVEL

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Photo: skynesher

Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.

Three months into quarantine — and deep into what felt like our 500th Zoom or Blink or Google Video lesson — my husband and I finally began to give up. The endless online classes were not only taking a toll on our family’s sanity, they no longer seemed to be working. Our toddler sons couldn’t hold still, office matters constantly distracted us adults, and the increasingly warm weather beckoned our brood out of the house and into the great outdoors. Or at least what passes for the outdoors in Manhattan.

And so, we reckoned, what about home-schooling? Or maybe just a few educational tricks and tasks we could adapt from a formal home-schooling syllabus. With so many families shut inside during the pandemic, we figured there must be some decent curricula available online or in print. But how would we find one with proven results? Who could tell us which text would actually engage our restless little guys?

The obvious place to turn was Facebook; more precisely, the pair of private parenting groups I use for any kid-focused conundrum: one for gay dads, and…

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David Kaufman
LEVEL
Writer for

Editor, writer, father, husband hummus-lover and ex-Cali guy living in NYC.