Last week both Time and Newsweek did the same old “new dad” story.

With the new dad getting older (37) according to a U Texas survey and the age of Time/Newsweek readers slipping closer to their age (44), it appears that the news magazines will be covering new dads more cause new dads are getting older.  (Got that?) 

 Now I understand it’s difficult not using the same references (and sometimes even the same cover) when serving the same demographics, but it was fun to ferret out the similarities.  With this in mind here’s a formula to help reporters who will be writing this story for the Time/Newsweek demographics for the uncoming Father's day season.

Recipe for the new-dad story

1. Take a look back on how good old dad wasn‘t there.

2. The negative reactions to at-home dads

3. Note how involved the new dad is.

4. Slam the “Mr Mom” comment. (no complaint here)

5. 2-5 Stats on at-home dads and involved dads. (you may use as many as 5 )

6. And a new twist here: Take a small poke at the daddy blogs after you get some info out of them when you close the article.

Below is the breakdown.

The Title

Time:  Fatherhood 2.0

Newsweek:  Just Don't Call Me Mr. Mom


The Theme

Time:  Men today are far more involved with their families than they have been at virtually any other time in the last century

Newsweek: Men more involved in child care than ever


The mention of the "old dad"

Time:  it wasn't so long ago that a man was that strong and silent fellow over there at the bar with the dry martini or a cold can of beer--a hardworking guy in a gray flannel suit or blue-collar work shirt.

Newsweek: My dad is a surgeon and worked hard to provide for my brother and me. Even now, he is out of the house most days by 7 or 8 a.m. and at work for the next 12 hours. My brother and I never wanted for anything materially. But the corollary to all those hours: we didn't see a whole lot of Dad during the week. Even on weekends, he'd go on rounds.


The at-home dad reaction

Time: "There are definitely some guys who look at me and think, 'What's up with him?'

Newsweek:  "What do you do all day?" and  "When are you going back to work?


The Statistics

Time:

The number of stay-at-home fathers has tripled in the past 10 years. The Census counts less than 200,000, but those studying the phenomenon say it's probably 10 times that number. (US Census)

The average dad spent about a third as much time with his kids as the average mom did. By 2000, that was up to three-fourths. (U Michigan)

Newsweek:

Same 2 used

The "Mr Mom" comment

Time:  From Michael Keaton in the 1983 movie Mr. Mom to Adam Sandler in Big Daddy (1999) to Eddie Murphy in Daddy Day Care (2003), the sight of a man caught in the act of parenting has been a reliable laugh getter--always a good indicator of what the culture considers uncomfortable material.

Newsweek: He rallies against Martha Stewart Living's "Mr. Mom Show"


Mention of Daddy Blogs?

Time? Yes - And it wasn't so long ago that a man was that strong and silent fellow over there at the bar with the dry martini .....He sired children, yes, but he drew the line at diapering them....he didn't review bottle warmers on his daddy blog...

Newsweek? Yes -  Sure, you'll have to endure the occasional hipster dad who slaps a Sex Pistols decal on his $800 Bugaboo stroller. Some of us will....diligently document our every self-important, profanity-laced insight on our blogs.

Another observation: The stories of the 50’s dad being at work all day gives the impression that our nuclear dads were simply not there at all emotionally. My dad went to work all day, but he was there for me at night and on weekends. To put things in perspective, here’s a quote in an article in Life Magazine titled My wife works and I like it.

Like any husband of a working wife Jim has to shoulder a large share of the housework, “I don’t mind it as long as we all pitch in” he says. “We all live here so why shouldn’t we all help out? The children, Jim feels actually benefit. “We make it a point to be with the kids more”

The date of the article? Dec 24, 1956 in Life’s Special Issue on the Working women.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Sure maybe they didn’t change the diapers or do the dishes, and neither did my dad, but I think current media should gives them a bit more emotional credit that they offer. Something tells me these dads didn’t get surveyed in 1956

.FYI:  Dana Glazer and Dallas Hayes (who is a subject in Glazer’s upcoming movie The Evolution of Dad) were liberally interviewed by Lisa Cullen of Time but didn’t make the hardcopy cut, however, they did get a nice mention in Lisa's Cullen’s blog.


[ref: time, newsweek, time blog]

 A lot can change in 100 years, or can it? South Western Baptist Theological University is kicking off their 100th year by introducing a 23 hour course in homemaking as part of their BA in Humanities.

Apparently God has been looking at the wrong census numbers because men are not allowed to take the course.  The cataloge description notes it will prepare women to model the characteristics of the godly women as outlined in scripture.  They intend to do this by making sure we can sew, or as they put it Clothing Construction with lab.  

Not that I would join the class, I took home Economics in Junior High (boys had to take it) and the only thing I remember was to watch for the bubbles so I would know when to flip the pancakes.  It was fun but that was enough for me.

I can't even imagine any women clamering to take this course.  Julia Heathcote over at the Ethical Palaeontologist isn't too excited about it either:

 I don't think I'm angry about it. As long as I'm never expected to cross paths with a graduate of that class they may as well do a degree that's going to further segregate themselves from the rest of society. I'm a bit non-plussed by the fact that it is only open to women, but I assign this to the same internal directory as all that surrendered wife bollocks. But Jesus H Christ on a bike - what a thoroughly boring class to take when there are so many more useful and interesting subjects, even at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ref: SWBT cataloge, The Daily Targum at Rutgers, The Ethical Palaeontologist]

Check out Chicago Pop's fabulous lead-in over at Daddy Dialectic. It starts out like a playboy forum fantasy should and ends like... a well....

Coming home from work to find your wife nude in the living room is supposed to be one of the classic male heterosexual fantasies. So I naturally wondered if the reverse might be true when, at about 6:30 one evening, I stood naked at the top of the stairs as my wife came in the door below..... [more]

Playgroup Update: I've added 3 new playgroups to the playgroup list, The MatSu Dads  Anchorage Alaska,  Baytown Area Daddy and Me Playgroup  Baytown, Texas (Houston area), and Salem, Oregon. e-mail brentmobley@juno.com.

Is it me? Or are all the celebrity dads "going back to work" at the same time? I really don't mean for this to turn into a celebrity baby blog, but I find myself in the midst of a new trend I just can't ignore, dads who stay with their kid(s) for a year or so, then run off to make/promote their new movie.

The latest celeb-dad* to join the Clooney/Pitt/Cruise gang is Jerry Seinfeld who dropped by Toronto's Varsity Cinema and offered his take on parenting to the Theater audience before showing a few teasers of his new film "Bee Movie":

I was one of those guys who just didn't get it,” he acknowledged, saying he was mystified by watching parents push strollers around and the idea of living with another person who “craps in their pants while looking you right in the eye.

“I love the kids,” he added, but said he still has a hard time with the endless chain of reciprocal birthday parties, at which “I envy the piñata.”

Children “don't like to see humans on screen,” but enjoy cartoon characters with human behaviour, he said.

He said bees seemed a natural choice: “They have an office, they have a product, they have bosses. … [They have] a little corporation, hanging from a tree.”

Then there's Richard Gere who had plenty to say about Fatherhood while promoting Hunting Party which came out a few days ago, And on Friday The Rock comes with Disney's  The Game Plan: "In my movie I play a superstar quarterback who suddenly discovers the kids he never knew he had"

You  get the idea, I'll skip the research on the last two movies I gotta take my kids to marching band practice. (Watch for my movie in 2010.)

* celeb-dad will be my new made up word if this is a new trend. (watch out you mom-blockers)

[ref: The Boston Visit, Globe and Mail]

Add Michael Douglas to the growing list of celebrities joining the at-home dad ranks while mom takes her turn in the spotlight. A reporter out of nottingham reported that the Wall Street star has apparently "confessed"  that he is now an at-home dad to his two kids Dylan (7) and Carys (4) while Catherine Zeta-Jones (38!) rakes in the cash. Says Douglas (63!):

"The kids know what mummy does for a living, but they have never seen daddy's movies, so mummy makes movies and daddy makes pancakes,"

Gorden Gekko's stint as an at-home dad has proved perilous. While scuba diving in Spain, he was zapped by a jelly fish and had to ask son Dylan to take a wizz on him. He shared the moment with Jay Leno:

"My son was there. I said: 'Dylan, please pee-pee on daddy's back.'

"He kinda thought it was a trick question. So he peed and it helped but the problem was that for the rest of the summer he was looking for jellyfish."

Of course with celebrities, these dad stints never seem to last as long as the marriages they are in, he managed to sneak in one indy movie which opened a week or so ago and will start on his Wall Street sequel Money Never Sleeps when the sreenplay is ready at the end of the year.

[ref: The evening post, Nottingham via The Sun (uk).]

Whats a real at-home dad movie with out those "tricky love triangles. "

The latest at-home dad flix starring our favorite office guy Steve Carell starts Oct 26th.

[advance reviews: Daily Film Dose, Dan's Real Life] 

The Mr Mom gang loses their lead singer Richie McDonald. 

[Farwell tour dates]

 
With the 12th At-Home Dad Convention coming up in Kansas, I thought I'd share my article on the first convention held on November 1996, reprinted in it's entirety from the hardcopy At-Home Dad Newsletter.

      Donald Trump has his word on at-home dads:

I’m impressed with these men and with their patience and dedication to their families, but I don’t think I could do what they do. I love my children but really like the world of business. I’d miss being in the middle of big-time deals too much if I gave up the boardroom for the playroom.

Yea but aren't those great big boardroom tables great for changing diapers?

P.S. Mr Trump, here's the latest info on the At-Home Dad Convention if you do decide to go.

                                        [ref: The Trump Blog ]

Those that know Jay Allen's  zero boss blog would be surprised to see that yesterday's post on his new blog goes something like this:

C# 3.0: Getting Dynamic  - Since I hyped a Ruby feature in my previous post, I should acknowledge the ways in which C# 3.0 is making itself a more dynamic language.......The C# team is definitely going the extra mile to mimic many of the trends in modern languages, and get C# at least a little closer to NBL.

Well you get the idea:  Jay Allen is back, probably not in the way you  are used to but it's the way he wants.  He's living in Oklahoma, (by choice he writes) and is getting back to the life he wants. So from now on you can expect more of  Collections in .NET: Coding to the Highest Level of Abstraction.