The Official Online Community of THE FATHER LIFE.com
Daddy dolls and fatherhood services
Twenty plus years ago I finished graduate school in May, my daughter was born in June and my first job out of grad school came in September . . . of the following year. I became an at-home dad right from the start. And from that moment my heart and direction was set. Whatever I did, wherever I did it I was always going to be about helping men be the kind of dads their children need them to be.
Erma Bombeck captured my commitment in her classic Father’s Day column penned in 1992:
One morning my father didn’t get up and go to work. He went to the hospital and died the next day.
I hadn’t thought that much about him before. He was just someone who left and came home and seemed glad to see everyone at night.
He opened the jar of pickles when no one else could. He was the only one in the house who wasn’t afraid to go into the basement by himself.
He cut himself shaving, but no one kissed it or got excited about it. It was understood when it rained, he got the car and brought it around to the door. When anyone was sick, he went out to get the prescription filled.
He took lots of pictures . . . But was never in them.
Whenever I played house, the mother doll had a lot to do. I never knew what to do with the daddy doll, so I had him say, “I’m going off to work now” and threw him under the bed.
The funeral was in our living room and a lot of people came and brought all kinds of good food and cakes. We had never had so much company before.
I went to my room and felt under the bed for the daddy doll. When I found him, I dusted him off and put him on my bed.
He never did anything. I didn’t know his leaving would hurt so much.
Bombeck’s everyday images poignantly caught what I knew to be true – whether they realize it or not, dads have a tremendous impact in their children’s lives. She also gave me the essence of a mission that has stayed with me for years in various forms. I want to change the job description of the daddy dolls in the world.
Not only do dads have an impact on children, more and more we are beginning to learn the impact children have on men. As Rob Palkovitz relates in his book, Involved Fathering and Men’s Adult Development, “Good fathering is good for child development outcomes, good for the mothers of children, and good for communities where involved fathers live . . . (it is now) possible to say with confidence that good fathering is perceived by fathers to be good for men’s adult development.”
Sadly the converse is also true; poor or absent fathers often have negative impacts on children.
I hope you will join me in doing all you can, wherever you can to change the job description of the daddy dolls in the world!
If you are a part of an agency, church, non-profit et cetera in Colorado, we want to know what you are doing to help dads and their children. Please take a moment to fill out our statewide program survey at this link. Our goal is to learn more about available fatherhood services in Colorado to increase our referral base on the Colorado Dads Web site and inform more people of research, training and funding decisions. The first 100 respondents to the survey will receive four $15 off passes to Elitch Garden’s Amusement Park in Denver.
Originally posted at www.coloradodads.com
Erma Bombeck captured my commitment in her classic Father’s Day column penned in 1992:
One morning my father didn’t get up and go to work. He went to the hospital and died the next day.
I hadn’t thought that much about him before. He was just someone who left and came home and seemed glad to see everyone at night.
He opened the jar of pickles when no one else could. He was the only one in the house who wasn’t afraid to go into the basement by himself.
He cut himself shaving, but no one kissed it or got excited about it. It was understood when it rained, he got the car and brought it around to the door. When anyone was sick, he went out to get the prescription filled.
He took lots of pictures . . . But was never in them.
Whenever I played house, the mother doll had a lot to do. I never knew what to do with the daddy doll, so I had him say, “I’m going off to work now” and threw him under the bed.
The funeral was in our living room and a lot of people came and brought all kinds of good food and cakes. We had never had so much company before.
I went to my room and felt under the bed for the daddy doll. When I found him, I dusted him off and put him on my bed.
He never did anything. I didn’t know his leaving would hurt so much.
Bombeck’s everyday images poignantly caught what I knew to be true – whether they realize it or not, dads have a tremendous impact in their children’s lives. She also gave me the essence of a mission that has stayed with me for years in various forms. I want to change the job description of the daddy dolls in the world.
Not only do dads have an impact on children, more and more we are beginning to learn the impact children have on men. As Rob Palkovitz relates in his book, Involved Fathering and Men’s Adult Development, “Good fathering is good for child development outcomes, good for the mothers of children, and good for communities where involved fathers live . . . (it is now) possible to say with confidence that good fathering is perceived by fathers to be good for men’s adult development.”
Sadly the converse is also true; poor or absent fathers often have negative impacts on children.
I hope you will join me in doing all you can, wherever you can to change the job description of the daddy dolls in the world!
If you are a part of an agency, church, non-profit et cetera in Colorado, we want to know what you are doing to help dads and their children. Please take a moment to fill out our statewide program survey at this link. Our goal is to learn more about available fatherhood services in Colorado to increase our referral base on the Colorado Dads Web site and inform more people of research, training and funding decisions. The first 100 respondents to the survey will receive four $15 off passes to Elitch Garden’s Amusement Park in Denver.
Originally posted at www.coloradodads.com
Comment
About
Videos
© 2009 Created by Ben Murphy on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
You need to be a member of THE FATHER LIFE to add comments!
Join this Ning Network