For my inaugural post I’ll attempt to perform a public service by addressing the plight of a sad segment of society: today’s dad. Let me first begin by categorizing the male of our species into three classes:
1) Men 2) Dudes 3) Dumbasses
This species class ranges from those overbearing, overachieving, type-triple-A’s all the way down the Darwin slide to the slovenly, oops-I-forgot-to-wipe-myself charmers. Whichever type you’re shacked-up with, or even if you’re single, understand this, men/dudes/dumbasses are all facing a massive identity crisis. Who are we supposed to be? Especially now when a decent number of us are temporarily home, being supported by our ‘working mom’ women.
The fathers we were raised by were real men who knew their, and everyone else’s, place in the world. They worked all day, came home for dinner, then sat and unwound as the woman cleaned up. The housewives they provided homes for cheerfully accepted their lot in life. Sure, newspapers of the day occasionally ran headlines like: “Wife Misplaces Valium, Goes Berserk And Shoots Husband In Ass”, but for the most part, women were women and men could relax.
Then came that horrible Gloria Steinem person from the Sixty’s who nuked the man/woman balance from existence. What was she thinking? We were gods and heroes! We came and went as we pleased. We loved our kids but didn’t have to talk to them. We smiled at them on our way from the dinner table to the TV room. We didn’t have a clue what the inside of a supermarket, or, God forbid, a diaper, looked like, and that was the way things were meant to be.
Now, I’m generalizing to the extreme here, some of yesteryear’s men actually played a big part in the family day-to-day. But still, a good amount had it easy compared to today’s working dad. Today’s dad is a juggler. He works but also helps out with making the home. He’s expected to change the diaper and to help with dinner. It’s just how things are done now.
But wait a minute, this all happened too fast. We were raised watching sitcoms whose depiction of dad was that witty guy sitting on the couch watching the family go by. Ingrained in our mind from an early age was the notion of our birthright, that someday we’d marry that special broad who’d cook, clean, handle the kids-along with most everything else-and still manage to look like she didn’t even know how to spell the word stress.
So, my purpose here on LifeWork Alliance, as the lone rep of the man-dude-dumbass party, is to represent both a dying breed as well as a newly born one that has been stuffed into a role he wasn’t quite built for. I promise not to complain. I may cry, but definitely won’t complain. And I promise to keep you informed of the progress-or degeneration-of today’s dad in his brave new world.
Tags: child, children, dad, employment, kids, parent, parents, raising kids, work, work life balance, working, working mom
THIS IS MY ONE AN DONLY RESPONSE - I ERASED TO OLDER ONE….
What did you do, get two different people (one of them is a guy, the other so interested in blogging, he misrepresents himself on *his own* intro by saying “If you need a shoulder to cry on, I’m here for you. Just don’t block my view of the TV.”) I hope for your sake, that was deliberate, becuse if you really believe this, well, which category would YOU put anyone who could serioulsy say such a I’m-really-NOT-here-for-you remark - just ask me to be a ‘honey’ and get you another beer. Such a person doesn’t need a woman, he needs a recliner with a built-in mini fridge that holds a sixer - LazyBOY even makes ‘em. I guess from this one example, that you *don’t* value
Thanks for taking the time to read/respond, Carol. Sorry you don’t appreciate the tongue-in-cheek style, I guess it’s an acquired taste. Appreciate the time you took, though.
I loved your post! I don’t know what planet Carol lives on but most women, i’m sure, would appreciate a blog like this. Great writing, funny and provovative. I’ll keep reading and glad i found ya!