Day 71 - It's the End of the World as We Know It...

Until recently, Children's Centres, Maternity units and Nurseries have not been very good at providing support for Dads. This has changed with the release of the 'Dad Pack' from the DfES. It's presented in 'bloke-speak' and has illustrations that call to mind Jamie Hewlett's work (i.e. Gorillaz). According to the organisation Father's Direct (the national information centre on fatherhood), the pack covers "pregnancy, birth, work, relationships, money, health, benefits, legal rights and responsibilities, plus playing with and praising children".

Apparently the driver for this is that the Equal Opportunities Commission has discovered that fathers of under fives do about a third of the parental childcare, thus prompting a need to get these men information that addresses their concerns in a way that is accessible to them.
It's clear from the fact that men doing a third of the parental childcare has prompted a new initiative that men used to do less. It also shows that blokes want to get involved. I know that my experience of trying to find information online revealed that the men's section is often a secondary consideration that is otherwise exclusively aimed at women, so broadly I suppose I think it's a good thing.

However, one thing that has increasingly become clear from reading lots of different sources is that beyond the biology, there's very little that everyone will agree with! I've written that I don't want my kid to look like an advertising hoarding for a fashion house, but that's a personal consideration. I'm not arguing that wearing a Nike top would significantly affect how my child developed. I just don't like it and think it's a waste of money, K___ agrees and so we won't do it. If I wore branded clothes all the time, perhaps I might feel different. Another couple out there reading this may think we're being ridiculous and think it's cute for Junior to wear Prada. You know, there is no right and wrong for a lot of this stuff.

And then you get the stuff that gets people riled - circumcision (see my previous post on that subject. I should add that the conversation continued but not one person acknowledged what I'd written, so I'm too jargony, too unfunny or some other reason, but whatever, it amused me that everyone ignored it), smacking, weaning... you name it, someone's throwing accusations at someone else about it, someone's got the hump and someone else is being made to defend a point that was supposed to be uncontroversial.

There were a few comments beneath the announcement of the 'Dad Pack'. They seemed to centre on just one fact, and perhaps that is all they need to put in the 'Dad Pack':

'Life as you know it will never be the same again... But you won't mind!'

That sounds do-able, doesn't it?