Hands-On Dads Go Above and Beyond for Their Kids

NYC Dads Group in the NY Daily News “Focus Now” Features

The New York Daily News did a features story today on hands-on fatherhood.  Article: OVER-THE-TOP POPS: Gotham’s ‘papa grizzlies’ go above and beyond to keep their kids safe.

In this case, they highlighted examples where dads are so devoted and involved in the parenting process that they keep logs of their babies habits the first few months, sanitize children’s hands frequently when taking public transportation, and worry about taking babies outside in 90+ heat.  Yes, these challenges are certainly similar to those of many parents, not just dads.  We continue to believe “New Dads can be just as a capable and nurturing – and sometimes just as scared – as new moms.”

Now, everyone knows I’m guilty of having an active son that has required stitches on his face on three different occasions during his first four years and as a result have a pediatric plastic surgeon on speed dial.

Sure, the piece brings up dads in the conversation about helicopter parenting (coins it “Black Hawk Dads”), over-protective parenting, and being worry warts.  We believe the bar and standards are always set extremely low for fathers.  Reflecting on this entertaining piece, maybe focusing on “extreme daddying” moves the conversation beyond the bumbling idiot, incompetent dad, or absent father to the dad who is engaged and tuned into parenting with his partner as a team.

I tip my hat to journalist Nicole Pesce for mentioning NYC Dads Group as a “perfect place for dads to ground themselves and for camaraderie” and the pictorial display that supports that fact. You can read the full story here in the online version of the New York Daily News!

Poll: Please share one of your “extreme parenting” stories where you went above and beyond for your kids?