Thanks, DadEditorialIn the incredibly complex landscape of contemporary family relations, "thank you" can speak volumes. The morphing of the traditional two-parent family into numerous permutations, either by choice or circumstance, has blurred gender roles and transformed parenting to very much a joint venture.For many families, the change has been wonderfully beneficial. When mothers and fathers share the work of raising children and the financial responsibility of the household, their partnership often becomes more equitable and satisfying. Women, relieved of full-time care-giving, can pursue professional fulfillment and financial compensation; men, relieved of the burden of being the sole providers, can participate more fully in the day-to-day activity that bonds parent to child. And so dads now pencil in carpool schedules as well as business meetings, rush from the office to the ball field, from the airport to bar mitzvah practice. They pack school lunches in the mornings and come home to dirty laundry at night. They are there to comfort a sick child and help with algebra homework, to celebrate success and assuage disappointment. When soccer dads are there to cheer side-by-side with soccer moms, everyone wins. Yet, change can be exceedingly difficult, and undoing convention has cast some dads in strange new roles. Many, struggling to juggle the demands of a stressful, often insecure workplace alongside escalating family responsibilities, feel exhausted and overwhelmed. Others, trying to understand and internalize changes in traditional roles, become angry and frustrated. They are mapping uncharted territory and confronting additional pressures and often unrealistic expectations. In this fast changing world, being a dad has become ever more challenging |