I’m Not The Dad I Thought I Would Be

May 23, 2018

2 min read

I’m not the Dad I thought I would be and that has left me not feeling like a Dad. It’s a weird feeling. In some ways I Dad more than a lot of the Dad’s that Dad out there. But having grown up with a stay-at-home-mom, and with the societal expectations of a family having a working Dad and a Mom that stays home, there are still times where I don’t feel like a Dad. Not a REAL Dad anyway. For example, I thought there would be way more opportunities for stock photo style pictures like the one above.

I know in my brain that I’m being ridiculous. Also, I know that I’m incredibly lucky. I LOVE being a stay-at-home-dad. My job takes me to the Zoo, the swimming pool and amazing adventures around Calgary every week! I keep a little human alive, happy, learning and most of all have fun – how friggen cool is that?!

My job has penguins!

But could I do more?

But there are times where I feel like I’m supposed to be the one that toils at a job. Like I should be the one that goes out and gets my hands dirty, then comes home to spend some Dad time with Clara. It’s a feeling I can’t quite shake.

A feeling only exacerbated when I go out in public surrounded by moms. Moms at the mall, moms at play centres, moms at the swimming pool. Most of the time this makes me feel lucky, not weird. Most of the time I don’t mind in the least.

Most of the time.

Anyone can be a father it takes a man to be a Dad (Click to Tweet)

I’ve looked around the web and have seen that these feelings, in one form or another, seem fairly common amongst stay-at-home-parents. Feeling like a dad, or feeling like a mom don’t necessarily come naturally. Counteracting these feelings is what leads me to projects around the house, awesome adventures and writing this blog.

I’m not sure I can fully explain what I mean. Perhaps working moms have a similar feeling. Fellow stay-at-home-dads do you know what I mean?