Equally Shared Parenting - Half the Work ... All the Fun


ESP The Book


What Others Are Saying:



"Equally Shared Parenting is a one-stop shop for couples who want to share in all aspects of life as parents  and are puzzled as to why that simple desire is often so difficult. Here couples will find the words that describe the goal, the real stories that show what is possible, and a ton of practical tips to get started right away. Marc and Amy Vachon are a godsend for couples who want and need to remodel motherhood and fatherhood to get the lives - and marriages - they really want today. Put this one on your must-read list!"
-Kristin Maschka, author of This is Not How I Thought It Would Be: Remodeling Motherhood to Get the Lives We Want Today

"Equally Shared Parenting is the book that carries the feminist revolution to its logical conclusion, a truly gender-equal society.  With courage, common sense and excellent examples, Marc and Amy Vachon show that true family equality is not only desirable but possible.  It should be a required text before marriage, a staple of PEPS groups, and top-of-the-list reading for anyone who is considering having children.  It might even help hold your marriage together!"
-John de Graaf, editor, Take Back Your Time and co-author, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic

"Finally, someone has written a how-to manual for couples striving to achieve equality. Equally Shared Parenting is, however, much more than a road map. It is inspirational, insightful, and very well written. It is shot through with the simple yet powerful message that, with enough courage and enough work, love really can conquer the forces of patriarchy.
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-Robert Drago, Ph.D., professor of labor studies and women’s studies, Pennsylvania State University, and author of Striking a Balance: Work, Family, Life

"Once-upon-a-time, did you dream that family life could be equal, but along the way you gave up? Well, forget the stress-inducing his work/her work “scorecard” approach, and rev up the equality dream again. With energy, verve and joy, the Vachons are bringing love and fun back into family life. Equally Shared Parenting is an equality guidebook filled to the brim with practical steps and how-to’s."
-Miriam Peskowitz, author of The Truth Behind the Mommy Wars and co-author of The Daring Book for Girls

"Rising above the finger-pointing and hand-wringing that all too often pervades the debate about gender and family change, Equally Shared Parenting provides a masterful, refreshing, and altogether convincing analysis of the joys, practical steps, and persisting obstacles to sharing – not dividing – caretaking and breadwinning.  Amy and Marc Vachon have given us an uplifting blueprint for fashioning more flexible and egalitarian ways of living, loving, and working in the 21st century.  This is a visionary book that is must-reading for caring couples and policy makers alike."
-Kathleen Gerson, professor of sociology, New York University, and author of The Unfinished Revolution: How a New Generation is Reshaping Family, Work, and Gender in America

"Marc and Amy Vachon aren't scholars and they aren't journalists. They're ordinary people who are extraordinarily committed to creating a family based on sharing and equality. Equally Shared Parenting is a wise, thoughtful blueprint that will help all parents to build more balanced and meaningful lives."
- Jeremy Adam Smith, author of The Daddy Shift and editor of Shareable.net

"Amy and Marc Vachon show us that 'equal parenting' is not an oxymoron. Through their own and others' research, but most of all through their own example, they inspire us to lead the committed and conscious lives that most of us long for - lives with room for our children, our work, our partners, and our selves. Offering real strategies that are pragmatic and flexible, the Vachons walk their talk, and remind us that true gender equality begins at home."
- Pamela Stone, professor of sociology, Hunter College/City University of New York, and author of Opting Out?

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Amy and Marc Vachon have written the book that didn't exist when we plunged enthusiastically into an equal parenting partnership. This must-read shows that, while there’s no "perfect" way to create this life, there are many ways it can work. The Vachons show any couple how to define what needs doing and really share the work and rewards of being a fully engaged parent."
- Nancy Gruver and Joe Kelly, co-founders New Moon Girls magazine, parenting educators, and authors of How to Say It to Girls: Communication with Your Growing Daughter (Nancy) and Dads & Daughters: How to Inspire, Understand, and Support Your Daughter When She’s Growing Up So Fast (Joe)

"Equality and balance are not impossible pipe dreams but real choices for today’s couples. The Vachons lead us through all the dilemmas and obstacles that divert dual-earner couples from enjoyable family and work lives and explain step-by-step how to create an equally-sharing family, an enriching career, and even a personal life beyond work and family. A call for change, this book brilliantly portrays how much men, as well as women, have to gain from a much-needed revolution in family life."
- Francine Deutsch, professor of psychology, Mount Holyoke College, and author of Halving It All: How Equally Shared Parenting Works

"Decades of social science research have shown that shared parenting can work, but academic articles and books don’t convey what it feels like or how to do it.  Marc and Amy Vachon’s new book fills this void.  Equally Shared Parenting is packed full of compelling personal stories about how the next generation of couples is reinventing parenting and modern marriage, and provides the “nuts and bolts” of shared parenting.  The advice they offer about how to balance family and work is indispensible for new parents. Highly recommended."
-Scott Coltrane, author of Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity and Gender and Families, and dean, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Oregon

"In the 60s, many people understood that for women to achieve equality at work they would need to achieve equality at home.  In most families that hasn't happened yet, and not so surprisingly when you look at the data there is a profound bias against mothers in hiring, wages and career advancement.  Equally shared parenting is a wonderful movement that is working to free parents to realize equality at home not because it is good for women but because it is a joyful alternative."
-Joan Blades, co-founder MomsRising.org and MoveOn.org

"Want to learn how to divide childcare, housework and moneymaking responsibilities without falling into stereotypical "Mommy" and "Daddy" roles?   Then follow the advice in Equally Shared Parenting and watch yourself, your marriage and your children flourish."
-Monique Tilford, co-author, Your Money or Your Life and Dave Tilford, senior writer, Center for a New American Dream


Praise for EquallySharedParenting.com or related work by Marc and Amy Vachon:

"Marc and Amy Vachon have succeeded in becoming absolute parenting partners."
- Lisa Belkin, New York Times Magazine

"[The Vachons are] the Obamas of the parental blogosphere…."
- Vivian Groskop, The Guardian

"[Amy] and her husband, Marc, have become the standard-bearers for a philosophy called 'equally shared parenting.'"
- Sharon Jayson, USA Today

"...the Vachons are the leading edge of true social change."
- Laura Vanderkam, The Huffington Post

"If I could wave a magic wand, I'd want to help everyone adopt ESP. It as been a great solution for me personally and would have a profound impact on generations to come."
- Jessica DeGroot, president and founder, ThirdPath Institute


" ESP is the next logical step in the march toward feminist equality."
- Barbara Risman, professor of sociology, University of Illinois, and author of Gender Vertigo
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Click below to learn more about Equally Shared Parenting: Rewriting the Rules for a New Generation of Parents:





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