why this blog began

Adventuredad puts it best:"What we all have in common is of course that we are fathers of very young children. And we all want to be cool fathers. Cool fathers is perhaps the wrong word. We want to be great fathers but at the same time enjoy life and have something meaningful to do. That may sound easy but I don’t think it is."

I think in order to be a "cool parent" you have to be able to have independent interests, be creative, to love and nurture your family while also being able to find time for meaning outside the family structure.

or greg allen from daddytypes, way back when he started it, saying, "The other day on the radio, a retired general was talking about her early days in the army. Women couldn't wear the then-standard boots, she recalled, and so the army had to redesign them. Suddenly, the male soldiers were reporting far fewer foot problems; women were the catalyst for improving all the soldiers' experience."

I think that the male involvement in parenting has transformed my (and all non-single moms') experience for the better. thanks dads!

it scares the crap out of me to think of what moms forty years ago were expected to do. they were responsible for all the childcare, meals, be well groomed, and expected to make it all seem effortless. yipes! the new dads' interest in parenting allows for both parents to be "cool parents" b/c the joint division of labor equals a joint division of free time. although i hope the blogoshere can come up with a better word for it than "cool parenting"