Caveman Dad or New Age Dad Which Are You?

Nowadays dads seem to come in all disguises. I was wondering what moulds dads into the role they are to their children?

Is it to do with your upbringing? Does that define what type of dad you will become?

I grew up without any father figure and for most of my childhood it was just my mum and I. I’m sure that if my father had been in my life as a child I would have been influenced that dad goes out to work, earn money and demands respect for that reason and no other reason. Where as mum stays at home, has babies and makes sure tea is on the table and looks after all the children’s needs while dad goes down the pub and has his time. That was certainly my father’s attitude and beliefs so had he have been there, would I have inherited his beliefs? The chances are most likely.

Because no matter how hard we try, we are to some extent images of our parents. So, on that note I’m more sensitive as a parent because my mother was actually quite a soft touch when I was growing up.

The caveman dad is definitely out there, still alive and kicking. I see it on a regular basis, but to balance that out men are changing dramatically in their roles as dads.

There is no doubt that at the playground in the mornings, you see many more dads than you did ten years ago and that is a sign of the times we live in. Dads are more involved with their children and the growth of stay at home dads is on the increase.

There are many dads that believe changing or feeding the baby is mum’s job and mum’s job alone because they feel that as a man they should not be expected to do it. Hard to believe I imagine for lot of us to believe, but is this an inherited belief from their own father? The chances are yes.

There is no doubt that 30 years ago a father crying was seen as a weakness. The belief that you can’t possibly be a real man if you shed a tear. For me, I have lost count of the times I have cried in connection with my children and the reason can be a number of things. It can be pride or happiness at something they have achieved and also when one of them may have been in hospital, and worry or upset at the situation can just become too much to control and the tears just flow.

Thankfully times are moving on, but it will be generations before men who are dads are able to be totally be themselves, as sensitive loving parents who have all the same emotions as a mum and have a fear of showing them with society judging them as it so often does.

My question is simple really. Are you the sort of dad that is embracing the full experience of emotions of being a parent, that allows you to fully to enjoy the experience of fatherhood? I know I am.

Of course you could be the sort of dad that feels showing any sort of emotion or weakness makes you less of a man, and this has possibly developed from wrongly inherited beliefs from your own childhood. Watching, maybe your father thinking that’s how I should behave.

Would love to know your thoughts.