I just read a CNN blog post by Jeff Pearlman encouraging dads to “wake the hell up.” Surprisingly, I agree with every point he makes. Especially the one about dads golfing for five hours on weekends after being gone all week for work. That may be an unpopular opinion among dads, but shit, we have to pull our weight. Turns out many of us dads aren’t doing our fair share and thus probably don’t deserve that gift mug this father’s day.
Below is an excerpt from the story, but I encourage you to read the full text here.
Really, wake the hell up. Now. I understand that most of you have 9-to-5 jobs, that you leave tired and come home tired and just wanna chill in front of SportsCenter with a bowl of chips. But, seriously, you have no remote idea: Being a stay-at-home parent is exhausting. At the office, you can hide. You can take lunch. You can pretend you’re working while scrolling the Internet for Yankees-Blue Jays and, ahem, Lindsay Lohan news. You have genuine social interactions with folks over the age of, oh, 12. People ask questions about your day — and listen to the answers.I
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no “perfect dad” and I would never claim or try to be. However, I do my damnedest to make sure that many of the child-rearing responsibilities are shared. Yeah, it’s hard as hell. And do I always want to be doing these things (changing diapers, going to the park, etc.), no, I don’t. But when we as fathers admit that there’s more we could do, that’s a start. I, for one, will try to get up with my child in the morning on more days so my wife can get some extra Zs. Guess I’m taking this whole “wake the hell up” thing literally.
