FLIP-FLOP FAMILYDouglas R. Davis says he has yet to meet another Utah man who does what he does - keep house and take care of the children while his wife works.

But despite all of the strange looks he encounters every time he introduces himself as a house husband, he enjoys his 11-year-old role that runs - rather dramatically - against the stereotype of mainstream Utah.

Statistics show that 4 percent of Utah men stay home while their wives work. But Davis, who lives in Bountiful, doubts many of those do it for the same reason he does.

Demographers would call the Davises a "flip-flop family." Douglas simply calls himself "Mr. Mom," and most people get the picture.

Susan went back to work at Mountain Fuel at a marketing supervisor two weeks after the birth of Jeffrey, their first child. Since then, Douglas has been doing "90 percent of the housework" and cooks the meals. He admits the remainder of the housework is done by Susan and a neighborhood girl the family hires once a week for big jobs.

Susan said many women are envious of her lifestyle.

"Most women say, `How do I get a great deal like this?' " she said. "They are jealous. And I say `It's easy: You have to live on your salary.' But it is very difficult for women to earn enough to live on."

Douglas doesn't like being termed non-traditional.

"The reason I stay home is to help take care of our kids, and that's a job for parents. To me, to choose to stay home to take care of my kids is just to fulfill my responsibility as a father," Douglas said.

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Douglas says there are advantages. Growing up, the children were more apt to run to Dad when they got hurt than Mom.

At the same time, Susan said they share responsibility.

"The kids are ours. They are what make us a family and what makes life important. I really feel sorry for career women who choose not to have children because they feel it will hurt their career. That is really getting the cart before the horse," she said.

During the 11 years since Susan has been working, Douglas has built the family a new home, been a PTA volunteer at his sons' school and ran for a seat on the Bountiful City Council. He said his house-husband role may have worked against him because people couldn't place a set of preconditions on him that go with a job title.

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