“You’re a dad; your job is easyâ€_x009d_, one of my relatives told me when Kian was born. A bit unfair I thought, but probably not entirely untrue. After watching my wife in the labour room struggle through the pain of childbirth for 17 hours, I already handed the mantle and medal of hard work to the mommies of the world… I just had to stand (or sit) there and watch without being able to do much… right there, a dad’s role is so much easier, but entirely easy, I am not so sure.
In my view, a dad’s role is to be there… at all times… to be helpful… to be the ‘supporter-in-chief’ as I like to call it. And discount it as much as you like, but I think it is an important one.
Of course, to what extent you are that ‘supporter-in-chief’ comes down to each individual dad and their personality. I’ve seen both extremes – dads who believe childcare is entirely the mom’s role and are completely hands-off… to the dads who are hands-on completely immersed in every aspect of their child’s growth, development and childhood. Most dads, however, I would say, are somewhere in between the two – moderately helpful, doing the basic chores that need to be done.
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