As a loving and involved Dad, I think it’s crucial to show our love to our family every day.  To “show our love” means to express through actions as well as words how we feel about our loved ones.  It’s not so much in what we say, or even in what we do… but it’s who we are that really counts.  Insincere people can say romantic things and even perform romantic gestures.  It’s what is in your heart that matters.

Valentines Day to me is a nice time to rekindle the passion for our loved ones, and take a moment to pause and be thankful for the people we have in our life.  If we haven’t shared these feelings with our close family in a while, now is a great time to do it.  I share a fantastic relationship with my wife.  She wrote me a Valentine’s day card today that was truly flattering.  Even after 18 years together, it’s nice to hear words like that. 

For us Valentine’s Day is not about chocolates and roses anymore, but it’s still important to share our time and express our love.  I hope you get the chance to do the same today, and putting a romantic slant on the day is just fine with me! 

Here is what wikipedia says about the history of Valentines day: ”

Saint Valentine’s Day (commonly shortened to Valentine’s Day) is an annual holiday held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions.   The holiday is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Valentine and was established by Pope Gelasius I in AD 496. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as “valentines“). The holiday first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

Modern Valentine’s Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards.”

Here is a quote from the Media Awareness Networks website regarding TV Dads:

“Popular culture often reflects cultural changes in the real world. But how accurate are the images in our popular culture? Are the portrayals we see in our television programs, magazines and movies representations of reality?

Gender roles for women and men have undergone significant changes since the introduction of TV. In the early days, the TV dad seemed flawless. He was intelligent, dependable and generally well respected in both the family and community. Times have changed on TV, and the “all-star fathers”–as represented by the dads on Father Knows Best and Leave It to Beaver has been replaced with goofy, irresponsible and immature fathers of The Simpsons, Everybody Loves Raymond and According to Jim.

Just as the characteristics and roles of dads have changed, the role of moms has changed significantly. While men were the breadwinners who did not participate equally in childcare tasks, early programs showed women primarily as wives and mothers who did not work outside the home. Today’s television programs present women in a greater spectrum of TV roles, often balancing the conflicting demands of career and family ambitions. As the presence of moms has increased in the workforce, dads have become more domestic.

TV Dads

While most people would agree that the presence of father figures in domestic situations on TV is a good thing, many people are concerned about how fathers are portrayed. Interest groups for fatherhood rights often complain that many TV ads portray fathers as buffoons who get no respect in the home and cannot perform even the most minor of childcare tasks. Due to the time constraints of the format–advertisers have only 30 seconds of airtime to tell their story–TV ads typically rely on common stereotypes as a kind of “visual shorthand” to give audiences a quick understanding. Thus many ads rely on the easy laughs that a bumbling dad generates. Advertisers have created father figures that often range from slightly inept to completely useless clowns (albeit lighthearted and well-intentioned clowns) when it comes to doing household chores and parenting their children.

The Modern Sitcom Dad

Often, sitcom dads such as Homer Simpson and Raymond Barone are portrayed as selfish and mindless. Although we believe that they love their children, storylines often portray their offspring as intrusions to other, more important pursuits such as drinking beer, watching TV or playing golf. These dads invest considerable time in thinking up schemes to avoid their family, and they appear overwhelmingly uninterested in everyone else’s lives. Certainly these TV programs are not part of a grand conspiracy to attack dads, but there are enough existing examples to make many people concerned. In particular, fatherhood interest groups worry because these images have a negative influence on how very young children interpret father-child relationships.

While sitcoms have changed with the times, it is important to understand and think critically about how these programs are constructed to create humorous scenarios for entertainment value. The situations and characters in sitcoms are not true representations of reality.”

Their website is www.media-awareness.ca 

I agree that the portrayal of Dads has deteriorated into an inaccurate, negative image of fathers.  Traditional Dads and family structures are being attacked, sometimes unknowingly and often times purposfully. 

One way to promote a product, business or lifestyle is to tear down your competitors.  In this case however, television executives, writers and advertisers who support them are tearing down the best thing for our children and our society at large (statistically proven over and over), and that’s the intact, 2 parent family.

I know there are other ways to raise children.  There are single parent families, same sex parents, step parents, unwed parents, etc.  I am not going to attack other people’s lifestyles, yet it’s very clear statistically and from a common-sense persepective, that the BEST (not the ONLY) people to raise a child are the 2 people who brought that child into the world.  THAT is what Dadsworld is out to promote. 

Hollywood and other major media moguls will tear down traditional values all day long, and continue to justify alternative choices in family structure, but that’ s not where Dadsworld is coming from.  We are here to promote and celebrate involved Dads and traditional family values. 

30 years ago there wouldn’t be much need for our Dadsworld movement (promoting and celebrating great Dads), as Dads were portrayed as intelligent, respectful leaders in their families and communities.  Today, even though there are still many Dads that fit that profile, children are constantly shown images of Dads that are disappointing.  This is doing untold damage to our society.  Even former President Bill Clinton said, “The REAL source of the welfare problem is the inordinate number of out-of-wedlock births in this country.”  Former Vice-President Al Gore said, “Promoting responsible fatherhood is the critical next phase of welfare reform and one of the most important things we can do to reduce child poverty.” 

Isn’t it obvious??? Intact, loving families are the bricks of society.  Children grow up doing better in EVERY SINGLE measurable category when the have an involved Mother and Father!  And not just a little better, overwhelmingly better.  Yet, we still have a media bent on tarnishing the image of Dads, and undermining Dads as role models for kids.  THAT is shameful, wrong and the reason I started Dadsworld in the first place.

Dads matter.  Society as a whole needs them, not just the children.  So  many problems in our society would not exit if ALL Dads were involved, from drug abuse to lack of education.  From teen pregnancy to low self-esteem.  Dads matter.  Dads have a huge influence on children.  The tearing down of the Dad as a role model doesn’t help.   

Be a great Dad and be a Dad for Life.  Dadsworld is here to promote great Dads, and we are going mainstream.  We are going to help change the tarnished image of Dads and show the world that great Dads are out there, and we are strong.  We love our children, are involved in our families and we don’t take kindly to the mainstream media portraying us as selfish buffoons. 

Thank you for supporting our website, and thank you for helping us grow.  Be sure to tell your friends and family about www.dadsworld.com and look for more exciting content coming to the website.  Also, be sure to become a fan of our Dadsworld page on www.facebook.com, and sign-up as a member on our main website for a growing list of benefits. 

Be proud, be a Dad for Life.

I wrote a post on the Dadsworld page on www.facebook.com today about how young children, ages 2-10 are starved for attention from their parents.  Many, many parents either don’t know what really spending time with their kids means, or they don’t have it high on their priority list (which boggles my mind…) 

I often go to places with our kids and see other Moms and Dads who are basically ignoring their own children.  You have no doubt seen it too,  at the playgrounds, in department stores, on walks, at the grocery store, and even in their own home.  Many parents feel like they are spending time with their kids, but they are not giving them focused attention.  Being in the same general vicinity to your kids does not qualify as spending time with them. 

The lady I saw at the playground the last few times I was there, who spends the ENTIRE time on her cell phone while her kids are on the play structure is NOT spending time with them.  The mother who took her kids to a play area in a popular family entertainment center this past weekend, then left for 10 minutes to go get food, came back and spent the entire time talking with another Mom, was NOT spending time with her kids.  On several occasions my wife and I have disciplined other children and even helped them when they got hurt and their own parent was nowhere to be found…too busy to really pay attention to their own child.  It always makes me and my wife angry and sad. 

Dadsworld wants parents to be involved.  Kids NEED parents to be involved.  Play with your kids.  Tell them stories.  Talk to them, sing and dance with them.  Wrestle and run with them.  Give them focused attention for at least 15 minutes a few times a day.  No cell phones, no internet, no television, nothing but you and your children interacting.

Remember, the days are long, but the years are short. 

NOW is the time to bond with your kids and create a LOVING family.  Kids need to feel cared about and loved, and the way to do that is to spend time with them.  Don’t spend time AROUND them, spend it WITH them.

Be sure to read the new Dad of the Month interview with Wayne Cannon.  Wayne has been married 15 years and has 3 fantastic children.  Wayne and I went to the same high school and he exibits the traits that Dadsworld wants to promote.

Being a loving, involved Dad is an honorable role to play in your children’s lives.  I encourage you to read Wayne’s interview and tell your friends and family about our website.

Thanks Wayne for the interview, and Dadsworld wishes you and your family the BEST! 

Be sure to sign up on the main page of www.dadsworld.com for automatic entry into our monthly drawings, and other benefits.  Also, if you Facebook, become a fan of Dadsworld.  Thanks for helping us get the word out that Dads matter. 

Have a great day!