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More Men Becoming Stay-At-Home Dads

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- These days, more fathers have a different reason to be recognized. That's because more men have taken over the role of Mr. Mom.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 32 percent of fathers stayed home with their kids at least once a week while mom worked in 2010. That's up from 26 percent in 2002. The families the Census Bureau looked at had kids under 15.

One such family can be found in Edina, where the Kellicks live. It's now summer break at the Kellick home, and the kids are up early. But Chris Kellick is in charge.

"He teaches us new stuff almost every day, which is really fun to learn," said 8-year-old James Kellick, who was learning how to make pizza dough with his 10-year-old sister Madeline Kellick.

Chris Kellick is former chef turned stay-at-home dad, and his wife is an executive with Target. He has been home since Madeline was little.

"We are very lucky as a family," he said. "Not everybody can afford to have one parent at home."

According to U.S. Census data, in the last decade more dads have taken on this role.

Chris Kellick is encouraging and caring. He has to do most of the cooking and cleaning around the house, but he is also right there as his children grow up. He wouldn't have it any other way.

"To me that's the greatest thing about being a stay-at-home dad," he said.

For Father's Day, he wants to spend some quality time with the kids, but he also says he wouldn't mind a couple of hours to himself.

Though it isn't the case with the Kellicks, the Census Bureau says a big reason that the number of stay-at-home dads has grown is because more men lost their jobs during the recession than women.

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