When I meet someone new and tell them I stay home with our four kids, one of the first comments I hear is, “So, you're like Mr. Mom.”

I know that I don't look as handsome as Michael Keaton from the movie, “Mr. Mom,” so I'm pretty sure they are referring to the situation of Keaton's character when he loses his job in the 80's film and has to take care of the kids when his wife starts working.

Most people remember the hilarious scenes when he tries to use the vacuum cleaner or feeds beans to the baby or puts too much soap in the washing machine. Many moms know this would be their husbands for sure!

But many forget that he begins to get everything figured out and starts to really enjoy the time with his kids. By the end of the movie, Keaton's character develops confidence in his ability, not as a replacement for mom, but as himself… as a dad.

I believe this part of the movie best describes me, and other dads like me, who have grown beyond the moniker of ‘Mr. Mom' into the title of at-home dad.

The first diaper I ever changed was my daughter's after she was born. My wife, on the other hand, cared for her younger sisters and babysat a lot, so our decision that I should be at home was certainly not because I was more experienced. Part of it was a practical decision because my wife's career (then with Kraft Foods and now with ConAgra Foods) had a much better earning potential than mine.

The other part of it was that my wife and I believed that our children should be raised by us as much as possible. I mean, if someone was going to screw them up, it was going to be us! When we decided to have children, it was clear that, if it worked out financially, one of us would stay home. Despite society's belief that it should be the mom, that never occurred to us. We looked at it more pragmatically — we would both be parents and, as long as at least one of us could be home with our kids, why did it matter if it was the mom or the dad?

Because of my lack of experience, I had a lot to learn, but I think it went a lot better than it did for Keaton's character. I chose to do this, so I didn't feel any depression over not having a job. This was my job so, from the very beginning, I worked hard to learn what I needed to know. Also, it helped that my wife allowed me to learn. She didn't take over when I put a diaper on backwards or overcooked a pot roast. She let me ask questions, make mistakes and learn. And that was hard for her and her type-A personality I can tell you!

When “Mr. Mom” debuted, very few men, if any, were the primary caregivers for their children. In fact, most men were like my father who worked 10-12 hours a day, never changed a diaper or attended a PTO meeting and did little housework.

Now, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates there are about 159,000 at-home dads (other sources put it at about 2 million). This is certainly a lot less than at-home moms who number over 5 million, but it is still very significant.

I believe this growing trend of men choosing to be at home also reflects a growth in working fathers who are becoming more active in the raising of their children. More and more fathers are changing diapers, washing dishes, giving baths, folding laundry and helping with homework than ever before.

This is an excellent trend since studies by Yale University Child Psychology Professor Dr. Kyle Pruett have shown that a father who is active in his child's life decreases teen pregnancy and drug abuse and increases his child's grades.

My goal with this blog is to nurture that. I hope I can encourage dads to develop the confidence to be even more active fathers with stories of my successes and failures and, at the same time, help moms understand more about dads (we do parent differently, if you hadn't noticed!).

And maybe not just at-home dads, but ALL DADS will grow beyond “Mr. Mom.”

Al Watts is the vice president of Daddyshome, Inc., The National At-Home Dad Network and is an at-home dad of four children. He lives in west Omaha.