Monday, February 25, 2008

Defining a Good Father?

Abby is home sick again today, so I'm home again today. Luckly we found a pharmacy that could order the prescription and it will be in later this morning.

She has made forward progress a few bits at a time, but we're not quite ready to call it crawling. I'll borrow the work video camera later this week when she'll hopefully be on the move.

Since I'm home, I'm watching some mindless TV in between other things. (Cleaning out the shop is high priority, but I can only do it for so long at a time before I go crazy. There is a lot of sorting to get done.

Scott Baio was just on Live with Regis and Kelly. (Okay, I'll admit that I like the show out of the other junk on morning TV. You caught me.) I don't remember Scott Baio from his days on TV, and that is okay with me. I know what he has done recently on VH1, though I will also admit to NOT having seen any of that.

Kelly asked Scott's wife if he was a good dad, and he immediately came out with what seems to be the deciding factor on daddy-hood:
"Yeah, I changed a diaper this morning."

Is that what fatherhood is about? Are we really so stuck in dad's are good at being dad's if they change poopy diapers? Am I some sort of super-dad because I do a lot more than that!

I wash the diapers, too. I don't just "changed one this morning" but rather am often the primary diaper changer. Anny will not dispute this. There was a ten day span in October that Anny did not see a poopy diaper!

To me there is a lot more to being a good dad, some of which I do and some I don't. That's okay, by the way.

I see these things as just as important:
Getting up in the night with your screaming baby.
Getting on the floor and encourage development.
Keeping your child at the center of every decision you make.

This is a very short list, and know that there are things that are more important. For me the standards will change as Abby continues to grow.

It really RE-HEALLY bothers me when the standard seems to be diapers. I hope for the sake of the Baio family he was just giving a standard answer and that behind the scenes he is better than that.

1 comment:

Our New Baby said...

I could not agree with you more. If all I do when our baby is born is help with diapers, I will not have the privilege to being with my wife very long. It is up to both parents to take a major responsibility in child care. Great post, Scott is a loser.