It’s not only a Woman’s Role
During the 80s I was a hands-on dad as I just lost my job it was fun it was exciting and it was damn demanding. But! I learned so much from my children. All my time management skills I owe to them. My two sons, in turn, have become hands-on dads.
Today, however, times have changed more and more dads have become involved with their children, from pushing prams, bottle feeding and changing diapers. I’m extremely proud of my two sons as they are fantastic with their kids and make it look so simple.
An article in the Daily Mail caught my attention, the title was the “Rise of the hands-on Dads”. According to Sadie Whitlock, she states that the detached dad, turning up his nose at parenting duties, is a myth.
A new government survey was done and found that 3,881 fathers across the U.S. who lived at home with their families between 2006 and 2010. Of the 1,790 men with children aged under five, 90per cent said were hands-on dads and bathed dressed and changed diapers. Seventy-two percent of the dads said that they fed and ate with their children daily.
Eighty-one percent of fathers were engaged in playtime activities but when it came to Reading less than 29% found the time to read to their children. Dad’s with children aged 5 years old to 18 only 30% said they help with homework or checked up on the daily progress.
Two thirds (65per cent) made an effort to engage in conversation about what had happened in the classroom. The nationally representative survey shows fathers’ involvement has increased slightly since the government first asked in 2002, coinciding with research since then that bolsters the benefits of hands-on fathering.
These new results are very encouraging and important to the child’s development. The more involved dads are with their children’s mental and emotional development the more the child would flourish. Joe Jones a leading researcher found there were more academic success less behavior problems and healthier eating habits.
The more dads became involved in their children’s daily activities their children’s wellbeing was assured. The survey speaks volumes. During the baby boom years, mothers were the nurturers and carers and dads were the breadwinners.
My Dad would run a mile when it came to feeding time but I will say he told us lots of stories and occasionally read us a story, he normally fell asleep halfway through the story.
As those roles shifted, so did the view that mothers are the only nurturers. Jennifer Bellamy Sociologist from the University of Chicago sociologist who also studies fathering, said some old stereotypes persist.
I am doing the most important Job in the World.
Dads are sort of the co-pilots in their families,’ absent or less involved than moms. But she said the survey confirms that fathers ‘are quite involved in a variety of different and important ways.
Here is a case study of Robert Loftus, 34, of Yonkers, New York.
He resigned from a six-figure sales job a year ago to care for his two young children while his wife works full time. ‘Times have changed,’ he said. ‘We’re trying to rethink our priorities and family seems to be the “number one” priority whereas in the past maybe people were more focused on career.
He says he is doing the most important job in the world. Don’t underestimate your role as a Dad. Your kids will always need you no matter what age.
Read my blog on First Time Dad a Personal Journey
Download the Hands on Dad Survey here
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