This week we celebrate Fathers Day.
Let’s take a peek into the modern dad and how our celebrations of fatherhood and dad’s parenting practices have modernised.
NOT JUST SOX AND JOX
In the past, Father’s Day was celebrated with the giving a simple gifts, like sox, jox, a special bottle to tipple and for some a family lunch or dinner. Today, the modern father is much more involved in the daily care, as well as the social and cognitive development of their kids. Seeing the swing away from the traditional gift giving towards personal art or craft works made with love and more so shared experiences creating further bonds and mutual memories to last a lifetime.
Today with far more stay-at-home dads and first carers, Fathers Day can be any day, however we are still tuned to the commercial experience. Rather than to criticise the commerciality, we prefer to accept this date has be scheduled in the calendar to remind us in our busy lives to take a breath and make the time and effort to show appreciation to one we love and call dad.
Modern blended families bring us all sorts of dad’s. Biological or not, the person who plays this parental role deserves to be thanked and celebrated.
MODERN DAD’S
We checked in with some modern dad’s and asked them:
What does being a dad mean to you?
” I‘ve only been a dad for a few weeks, so it’s still all very new and I’m still working it out. Beyond the unbelievable immediate love which you hear about but can’t possibly understand until you experience it and an innate need to protect, I’m still getting my head around how I can best support my babies mother. We are both lost in a sea of feeds, sleeps and nappy changes. I know that by this time next year I will have so much more to say. I can however say that I hope to be the father who listens beyond that which is said, finds the time without question, explores unusual possibilities and activities and who gives the experiences to fill the heart with memories over the years to come.”….Mark
“Being a dad is a huge responsibility, all or most parents want what’s best for their child and that takes a lot hard work and patience. I’ve far from mastered the art being a father but I take it seriously and give it everything I can, so my son can grow up feeling loved, happy within himself and become a great person.” ….Matt
“I love that being a Dad these days means much more than just being a breadwinner. I love being involved in my daughter’s emotional and physical wellbeing much more than simply providing financial stability and a roof over her head. Going for manicures is fun too, I don’t remember that being a thing for dads and daughters in the 80’s when I grew up ” ….Phil
Given the change in times, as a retrospect, we felt may be interesting to ask our modern dads :
What’s an experience you recall from your childhood with your father?
“I was one of 6 kids, we didn’t have much spare cash to splash around on gifts. Dad was very hard working, long hours so we didn’t find a lot of time for creating memories. However, for Fathers Day, our family we always had a family lunch.This included the extended fam, the cousins and uncles and aunties, gramps and gran. I have such fond memories of these days, we were and are all very close. That was how our family always did the celebrations. Even now.” ….Mark
” My father is a strong hard working man that always went above and beyond to create the best life for me and my sister. Most of my memories with dad are me as a young teenager surfing and skating with him and our friends. Dad loved having my friends around, so each weekend we’d all pile into the EH holden, stack our surfboards on the roof and drive down the great ocean road looking for the best beach to go surfing. On most missions we’d surf for 2-3 hours in the morning, then eat a huge lunch and surf again all afternoon. As the day ended we’d arrive home for dinner and most nights go skateboarding into the late hours. I guess my home was the party house so we mostly had a great time growing up. “….Matt
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