** Inspired by the incredible Dad 2.0 Summit in Houston I attend last week, bringing together the nation’s top writers, bloggers, and speakers on Fatherhood. The meeting and networking synergy of the group was sensational, with all participants exuding the obvious positivity and joy of adding to the involved Father movement. At the conference, I met Lisa Belkin of the Huffington Post. In January of 2013, she wrote about the death of Mr. Mom.
If there was an official old school newspaper obituary, I hope it would read like this…
R.I.P Mr. Mom (1983 – 2013)
It is with great joy and excitement that we announced the beautiful death of Mr. Mom.
Born in 1983, Mr. Mom, the proud child of Hollywood and society, was welcomed into a world looking for a new role for the father in the family.
Mr. Mom, aka “the Buffoon”, enjoyed incredible fame in pop culture and advertising, painted as the clueless, out-of-touch dad. This image of fatherhood was seen most recently last year in some unforgettable Huggies ads – coining the now famous phrase, “Put these Diapers to the ULTIMATE test – DAD!!”
Mr. Mom’s role in society changed drastically over his life span. While originally hailed as a parenting “pioneer” and “trailblazer”, Mr. Mom spent most of his early days burning dinners, putting diapers on backwards, and looking for lost marker-tattooed children. However, towards the end of his life, Mr. Mom became seen largely as the “Nick Nolte” of parenting – old, out-dated, serving little purpose, and somewhat gross to look at.
Like 8-track tapes and typewriters, we have happily evolved well beyond Mr. Mom and his overflowing “suddenly pink” laundry. His presence as a bumbling, clueless, dumb dad is no longer accurate or relevant in today’s families. His name only serves to make at-home dads and active, efficient and capable fathers alike cringe.
Mr. Mom is survived by 100 million involved competent dads across Canada, the USA, and the entire world. Notably, his own set of triplets, “Responsible”, “Caring”, and “Involved” have risen to great prominence and importance in families.
The enigmatic Mr. Mom (aka “I hope you find real work soon”), will be sorely missed by no one. No one will celebrate the loss of Mommy’s Little Helper and his death has been dreamt about and prayed for by millions of hardworking loving at-home dads who have CHOSEN to be home to raise their children because that is what works best for their family situation.
“Mr. Mom” is predeceased by his 5 brothers, “Mr. Babysitter”, “Mr. Sissy”, “Mr. Less-than-a-Man”, “Mr. Irresponsible”, and “Mr. Just-giving-Mom-a-Break!”
A viewing of this pathetic corpse is available on request, but skip the sweatpants and bourbon. Just celebrate his timely death with a smile and an “it’s about time!” nod of the head.
In lieu of flowers, please recognize and respect the incredible dads in your circle of influence. R.I.P. Mr. Mom – gone and gladly forgotten.
I agree. Put a stake in it. Fortunately, most of the moms I know would agree as well. The other image is the wood-chopping, truck driving, beer drinking insensitive bread earner.
Hey Hugh — great to hear from you again = these dads hug, change diapers, and SHOP 🙂 National brands are starting to recognize how important it is to talk smartly and accurately about dads!