I have been stricken recently by a trend I see more and more in society of expecting less and less of fathers. Commercials have designated the father as the butt of all jokes. Sitcoms show fathers as either bumbling or clueless. Dramas usually show them as abusive or absent. And the phrase you hear most often of fathers in the office is, "Well, at least he isn't a deadbeat dad." Not exactly high praise. Our society has gone from "father knows best" to "father's gone missing." So it is nice to see at least one commentator calling us on this trend.
I remember watching an OnStar commercial. And as the company touted the features, it showed a father driving his child around, and when the kid starts to cry, the dad freaks out and has to quickly call the mom to calm the baby down. I'm watching that and saying, "Man, it's your child, too! So calm it!"I am still a single guy, so I don't have a lot to offer on fatherhood. But I respect my friends who are fathers, and who truly give everything to be good dads to their kids. I know this Sunday is Mother's Day, but here is a Mod-Blog salute to good fathers, too!
Then there is the commercial -- I don't even remember what they were pitching -- of two or three kids in the kitchen making a mess after spilling the cereal. The hapless and hopeless dad looks at them and says, "Where is your mom?"
Every time that commercial comes on I scream at the TV, "Where is your mom? Where are your parenting skills, you ingrate!"
