When asked why I write this blog, there really is no easy answer. It’s a creative outlet, something that I do because I enjoy writing. It’s something to show the kids in the future, something that will document my thoughts as they are growing up along with all the pictures. There’s an ego aspect to be honest. If I ever stop appreciating the fact that you all are choosing to take a few minutes out of your day to read what I have to say then it will be time to step away from the keyboard.
It’s probably a bit silly, and I have no problem admitting that. The author of this article in The Washington Post certainly thinks so, and I agree with a lot of his points. The easiest way to dispel the notion of dads as “babysitters”, to be given credit for taking equal responsibility for the raising of our children as their moms is simply to go out and do it, to take away the novelty of bringing our kids to the park on the weekend, not because it’s “our weekend” and we don’t know what else to do with them, but because we enjoy it.
That shipped has already sailed, the author of that post is missing the point. I’m not the only dad at the playground, nobody thinks that it is weird that I’m a Girl Scout dad or that I spend my Saturday afternoon watching a cartoon movie at the theater instead of golfing. When he mocks my “Dads Don’t Babysit, It’s Called Parenting” T-Shirt, the very one I was wearing as I read his words, he misunderstands my intentions by wearing it.
It’s not a cry for attention, a message to the old lady at the pediatrician’s office who asked me if I needed to call my wife before making my daughter’s next appointment, or even a dig at those dads who assume that their wife has all the back to school shopping all taken care of.
It’s a fist bump, an acknowledgment to the other dads out there that I see you, that I know what you are doing. It’s something a bit more subtle than the full bro hug I received by the otherwise very nice gentlemen I met while exiting the My Little Pony Movie earlier this year, happy to know that he wasn’t the only dad in the audience.
It’s also the most complimented and remarked upon item of clothing that I have ever owned, eliciting multiple responses, to this point all positive, every time that I leave the house wearing it. Two weeks ago the waiter at Buffalo Wild Wings took a picture to remind himself to order one for his stay-at-home brother.
It might be a silly shirt with a corny message but people really seem to appreciate it. That tells me something.
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Previously Published on thirstydaddy.com and is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: Author
