Isaac Davison: Welcome to the club, Clarke

Isaac Davison, with son Will, took over fulltime parenting duties just after the general election.

Welcome to the stay-at-home dads' club, Clarke Gayford.

Naturally, Jacinda will be in the spotlight over the next six months as New Zealand's first pregnant Prime Minister.

But it will be a great thing to have you - high-profile, full-time dad - in this country too.

I gave a quiet cheer (my son Will is sleeping) when I saw you would take over as primary caregiver after six weeks.

We're a select group, outnumbered about 7-to-1 in New Zealand by stay-at-home mums.

I have formed a weekly beer-drinking club for dads in Wellington which has a paltry membership of two. Including me.

I took over full-time parenting duties just after the general election, when Will was a year old.

Though I initially had sleepness nights and lucid nightmares about becoming a full-time father, the reality has been a profoundly joyful experience.

I am sheepish to admit it, but after Will goes to sleep and I hit the couch, shattered, I begin to miss him and watch videos of our day together.

It's a constant source of bemusement to me why more New Zealand men don't take on this role.

It is partly down to workplace inflexibility and age-old bias - something which your example will hopefully break down.

I'll leave you with a few tips.

Firstly, to keep you both sane, do one thing for yourself and one thing for the baby a day.

Learn to laugh. It will help when your baby does their first poo in three days, so rock-hard that it falls out of the nappy and rolls into the hallway, leaving a brown snail trail on the carpet behind.

Don't worry, you can still get to the pub. In fact, babies love the place - it's warm and there's white noise. At this very moment, I am watching cricket and drinking a beer in the sun while Will goes into his third hour of sleep.

I'm not sure about taking the baby deep-sea fishing though. Maybe spike the baby's milk with Sea-Legs?*

There are a few things you should expect (but not put up with).

Get used to being called the "babysitter" rather than the father.

Get used to people who you've never met patronisingly telling you: "You're doing a great job".

And get used to people assuming you are weak because you are at home while your partner is at work.

There is nothing weak about keeping another human alive so your partner can run the country.

*Just kidding - don't.

Herald press gallery journalist Isaac Davison is on six months' paternity leave.