Blog Entry: Father's Day - a celebration and rant
Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!
I just read a blog entry where the writer asked people to tell her what they thought dads were ideally supposed to do, if they were doing fatherhood "right"...and my first thought was, Um...exactly what moms are supposed to do. What's the difference?
I feel very, very lucky to have grown up with a great dad who showed us by example that dads could and should do all the things that moms do, from reading books out loud to changing diapers to cleaning and cooking and everything else that's involved in child-rearing. Having two equally committed and loving parents, in every aspect of life, is amazing luck for any child. And as a mom, I LOVE the fact that Patrick is an equal co-parent to MrD in every way. He's not just doing the gendered job of a "dad" - he's doing the job of a parent, which is so much bigger and more important.
And having thought through all this, of course I was even more frustrated than usual as I searched for Father's Day cards this year. Why are so many of them so sexist and obnoxious, or just so narrowly stereotyped? Not all dads love to play golf and to fish! Not all dads watch football!
Sigh. It just brings back all those horrible, frustrating shopping trips as a kid at this time of year, as I searched in vain through the department store displays of "gifts for Father's Day"...which were universally hopeless and a zillion lightyears away from the taste of my own dad, who didn't golf OR fish OR watch football.
Honestly. Had he just not read the "dad" handbook? Or were the stores completely brainwashed by some alien pod-person's idea of what a "dad" is supposed to be?
Personally, I'm voting for the alien brainwashing.