Fatherhood has changed over the past couple of decades as families have become more symmetrical and share the responsibility of paid work and childcare. Whilst in my experience (and from those I talk to) women still often have a triple shift and take on many of the hidden tasks. My husband will hoover, he hangs out the washing but come buying and wrapping birthday presents, buying clothes for the children and other such hidden work the burden still falls to me.
One area that has undoubtedly changed over the generations is how much fathers interact with their children though. Erin waits patiently for daddy to come home from 6pm and as bedtime is just before 7pm they don’t have long together during the working week. However as soon as he is in, he finds her in the house and they play a game. It maybe eye spy or guess who but there is always time for something. One of my bug bears is when if the children are in dads care for the day it can be regarded as ‘daddy daycare’ or ‘dads babysitting’. The same is never said about mums as the expectation of care still falls to the female gender.
It is much the same with Dylan and they enjoy playing snooker together, watching football or setting up something to do like hotwheels. I am really close to my dad too and I think it is his generation that changed the face of parenting. That is why Hotwheels are celebrating dads this Fathers Day. Chloe at 15 spends time with him in different ways but they go and play tennis or go for a run together.
This track is available at toyshops and retails at £20.99
Many readers will know that I have been marking A Level Sociology papers this month and the changing face of Fatherhood is very much part of the course when studying the family. Some new research has revealed four roles dad take on.
· Aspirational role. Dads want to make a positive impact on their children’s lives more than ever before.
· Value of quality ‘dad’ time. Dads are spending more and more time with their children.
· Balancing responsibilities. Dads believe the responsibilities are split evenly in the household (but mums still see this differently!)
· Childhood memories. Dads are more likely than mums to choose toys that remind them of their childhood or that can help build a connection with their child.
Therefore I am interested to know whether this research is how your family works. One thing that is obvious though as this is very much about the nuclear family and now that there is much more diveristy in the home I think it not always the norm. I have written before about whether childhood is disappearing and the face of the family certainly continues to change and adapt to society and out culture.
2 Responses
this is very interesting Emma . my boys Dad does take them swimming every Saturday and when they were babies he was more hands on at bath time and bedtime, but he is not so much now. He also taught them both to ride their bikes. I am hoping he will do more with them as they get bigger x
My son has just rediscovered his Hotwheels set – love the look of this extra track! So true – my husband has rebought his whole childhood, plus the ones his mum wouldn’t buy or couldn’t afford 😉