kids be like - Your Modern Dad

I know we have all seen things floating around on the internet that goes like this…

Now its usually the women getting the upper hand on us guys. Truth be told, I actually think that they are pretty funny, and don’t really take offense to it. Why? Because they are just an exaggeration of the actual truth. Dr. Emma Seppälä wrote, “While women’s expression has culturally evolved to be expressed through nurturing and bonding behaviors… men tend to express “fierce” compassion.”

So I guess for us Dads it would go more like this…

Now she goes on to say that this is not the case in every situation, these “roles” can change whenever a person in put into a particular situation. A coach hugging and crying with his senior player as they lose the championship game in the final seconds is “nurturing.” While A mother grabbing her child by the arm to save them from walking into a busy street is a sign of “fierce” compassion.

I agree in that naturally we tend fit into these parenting forms. However, parenting is about bending or breaking these molds and fitting into both categories. Its not really staying with in one over the other or which person can”handle” situations better. Moms and Dads can do both! We both can teach our boys how to throw a football or teach our little girl how to paint her nails. However, we may just do it a little different. An example of this is our bedtime routine with the kids.

Becky and I both tuck in each of our kids at night. Now she will lay with Allie and gently rub her head and sing her princess songs that she makes up each night, or even sing old favorites like Toora Loora Loora. She is naturally more calming and will lay and talk quietly with her as she puts her to bed. Why? Thats what she likes from Becky. She likes when Mommy is gentle and quiet at night.

For me… not so much. She will hide under her covers (in excitement) and waits for me to sneak in. She wants it to be a game of hide and seek, except in this game we both win. I usually hear her laughing, because she knows when I come in I make weird noises and tickle her. She likes to put her hands on my face, because my beard tickles her little fingers. Now I’m not as creative as Becky, making up my own songs, and I definitely could not be a contestant on “The Voice” by any stretch. However, Allie asks me to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” every night, but it has to be in a funny voice. (Lately she likes my horrible impression of an older Irish Woman… Hey what ever makes them happy right?)

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