Some Useful Ways to Avoid Turning Into a Bad TV Dad
It's up to you to prove you don't deserve representation by Homer Simpson and Al Bundy
The portrayal of fathers in entertainment and culture during the past few decades has made them look lazy, incompetent, or disengaged. In 2010, TV Guide contributor Matt Roush said, “It used to be that father knew best, and then we started to wonder if he knew anything at all.” Generations of boys saw dads on television who were fat, dumb, and lazy. They grew up thinking that was normal and acceptable behavior for a father if that’s what they saw on television and didn’t have a better example at home.
This was the first topic discussed in Daddy Bootcamp was how we are responsible for changing the perception of fathers and men before getting into the logistics of the birth, breastfeeding support, diapers, and everything else that goes with being a father to a newborn. He added more purpose to the most important thing I’ll do in my life. Every dad needs to know how to care for his baby, but not every dad knows can change how the culture views fatherhood for the better.
One of the biggest stereotypes of fathers is they are only responsible for being the breadwinners in the family and their only job is to make sure bills get paid. That’s unfair to mom, children, and dad. The cost of living is out of control so the mom probably works too. Dad shouldn’t get the right to be lazy when he gets home if mom is working. That’s unfair to children because they need the different experiences a father provides and the self-esteem of knowing they are important to their father.
Dads get made fun of because it’s easy to say they don’t know how to do anything right in the home. Traditional gender roles usually portray the mom taking care of all the household chores and childcare. Men make a lot of mistakes at the beginning of assuming these responsibilities and are afraid to ask questions. Instead of assuming you know how to do it, ask mom how she prefers it done or bounce your idea off her to see if that would work too. There’s a reason why it’s done a certain way.
You don’t ever want mom to worry about leaving you home with the baby and all the responsibilities that go with it. It’s up to you to take initiative to be competent with all the duties you need to do while mom is out. A great goal is to have mom able to tell her friends she has nothing to worry about when she leaves the kids with you. If enough dads pull more than their weight, that will change the perception of them. Mom needs her own time too and the best person who can give her that is you.
It’s not society’s fault fathers got portrayed as lazy oafs for decades. Enough men thought they were only responsible for bringing home a paycheck and letting mom do the rest. Our culture is paying the price with generations of kids who haven’t gotten the guidance and role modeling of what a great dad looks like. We change the negative perception of fathers by doing our job to raise strong children, help mom any way we can, and for our kids to know how to do the same when it’s their turn.