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The ongoing lockdown during the Coronavirus pandemic has brought a lot of harsh truths out into the light. Truths that always existed, but needed the spotlight of a quarantine to be seen by the naked eye. One such truth is the sharing of responsibilities by couples regarding the physical, emotional, and financial needs of their children. With quarantine in place, husbands working from home have been witnessing the delicate balancing achieved by moms day after day. Be it responsibilities of not only transforming a house into a home, or maintaining a faultless professional life but also taking care of the needs of a growing child.
Since time unknown, despite sharing the DNA of both parents, taking care of a child has mostly been the job of women in the household. Men have been present only when there was a case of life-changing decision-making but they usually left it to the women to sort out the everyday minute details. Yet, society always tends to hold the mother accountable if anything goes wrong while the father just hovers in the background. As times changed, women stepped out of their “boundaries” to claim their rights, which consequently led men to become more involved with their children’s upbringing. However, the gap still remains. The majority of the people still think that when a couple brings a child to this world, it is the woman’s job to feed them, bathe them, change their nappies, and stay up at nights with them. Isn’t it time that we ask men to share the same amount of accountability as the women in the household? Especially, when it comes to the upbringing of the child they have both brought into this world. Based on real-life observations, we have listed out for you three types of fathers that we encounter in daily life.
1. The Hands-on Father
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This doting father is easy to spot on social media or in the immediate surroundings. They want to spend time with their little munchkin and therefore, put considerable effort in doing so. They love doing exercises with them, cooking with them, rocking them to sleep and attempting other projects with them. This dad is always there when you need him, and sometimes even when you don’t. Nonetheless, they share their spouse’s load with a happy smile because they want to invest that time in developing a deeper connection or bond with their child.
2. The Laidback Father
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This is the kind of father that is commonly found in most households. On a regular day, this father likes to go about his own business unless the spouse calls for his attention on an urgent matter of strict disciplining. Even then, the father shows quite a reluctance in involving himself in “womanly” matters. They enjoy playing with the kid but the women in the household should manage the gritty parts. These fathers rarely volunteer to participate, but when it’s their time to shine, they do so with quite the flourish.
3. The Absentee Father
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The fathers belonging to this category have minimum interaction with their kids. Even these interactions are strictly a monologue rather than a conversation. The reason can vary from person to person – the father can be a workaholic or just an alcoholic. Either way, they fail to fulfill the emotional needs of the child, which may negatively affect the child’s psyche for the rest of their life. It is common for these absentee fathers to fill this emotional need with fancy toys or gifts. However, the harm is done and the effects of this emotional scarring will continue to surface even after the child has become an adult.
We are all waiting for the day when all fathers assume equal responsibility for the child they have brought into this world. Can you think of a category we missed in the above list? Share with us in the comments below.
