A few weeks ago, I was asked to give a presentation to fellow grad students detailing a project I’ve been working on. I was honored to be given the opportunity, but it was scheduled for a Tuesday, one of three “Daddy-Daughter Days” as we call them in our family. I have to be honest, I panicked a little. My daughter goes to daycare two days a week—a schedule that my wife and I came up with based both on our need for coverage, as well as on our budget. So another day of daycare wasn’t really an option. My mom watches my daughter on Wednesday evenings, for which my wife and I are eternally grateful, and we hate to ask for more. And we don’t really have a regular babysitter.

In the midst of this childcare-induced panic I was reminded of something my advisor (andProfHacker writer) Ryan Cordell told me—a piece of advice that had been shared with him by Bethany Nowviskie—when he was a grad student with children. That is, if we want the culture of academia to change to be more accepting of those of us who are academics and parents, we need to start “parenting in public.” So, here it was, my first opportunity to do just that.