Somehow I managed to live 30+ years without having to change a single diaper, but that all changed eight weeks ago today when my wife and I became new parents to our daughter, Lucy. While I am not a parenting expert yet and still have a lot of questions, I think I am getting the hang of life as a new parent. Dirty diapers, it turns out, are only the tip of the iceberg. In the last two months, I have learned a great deal about babies and what it means to be a father - things I never knew before.
Get your Mr. Mom on after the jump.
As a new parent, it strikes me as peculiar how nearly all of the books, magazines, and TV shows and movies dealing with parenthood are focused almost entirely on women. Many of them don't even attempt to acknowledge that men have an interest in being active and involved parents. For example, many of the parenting books I've read simply consider fathers as an afterthought. One very popular book on parenting that I recently purchased at the suggestion of our child's pediatrician had - count them - a total of four pages dealing with fatherhood. Their major suggestion: "Dads can change diapers, too!" Duh.
It all leads me to question whether the conventional view of fatherhood has really changed much since the 1983 Michael Keaton classic Mr. Mom?
I've been wondering what it will take for the media to really begin to challenge these outdated views of fatherhood. Anything that connects fathering with nurturing and loving babies and that helps men become better parents is something I want to support. On that note, I have run across some great online resources for fathers and highly recommend the following websites:
- National Fatherhood Initiative - Check out some of their great PSAs here
- Father's Forum Online
- GreatDad
With all of the "mommy-blogs" out there these days, dads are starting to get in on the action, too. Check out these "daddy blogs":
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