I'm 32, a dad, and I am not a douchebag...

With each passing day I grow more and more frustrated with how dads are portrayed in society.  Now, could make some heavy statement about how dads are being held down by the man.  Or, how as dads we are a much maligned group of people deserving a chance to stand side-by-side equally with the mothers of our children.  I could say a lot of things, but the truth is some of us are douche bags.

All I will ask is that you readers and the rest of society who may never actually read this: Please give us a shot...Don't ignore us in children's literature; Don't constantly make us the butt of every parenting joke; Don't assume we're just idiots plodding along pretending we know what we're doing (yeah we probably don't know what we're doing, but most of us try, and we try hard).

For the dads, this is going to take some effort.  There are a few of you out there that are giving us a bad name.  If you fall into any of the three following categories please pull yourself together and try to set a better example:

1. Horrified Diaper Changing Dad-  Listen, everyone poops.  At some point you are going to have to change a messy diaper, and it will smell terrible.  But the moment you feel you need to put a mask on to protect you from that diaper you've already lost.  Worse yet, when you heave or actually throw up, the top of the dad ladder sinks just a few more feet.  The stink of that diaper is nothing compared to the stink of cowardice wafting off of you every time you hesitate to change that diaper.  Get in there and quit complaining already.  Face it, Your poop doesn't smell like roses. 
   
2. Too Cool to Carry the Diaper Bag Dad-  You know who you are.  You're the guy that companies knew they could swindle when they designed more 'manly' diaper bag options.  Are there too many flowers on your diaper bag?  Does it look too much like a purse?  Guess what you're partner only has two arms and if you've traveled with a child anywhere you know that is not enough.  You need everything inside that bag so what the bag looks like on the outside should mean nothing.  Pick it up it won't burn.  You're making us all look like idiots.
   
3. I Can't Pick Clothes or Do My Child's Hair Dad- If you can dress yourself you can dress a child.  Sure, I have issues finding matching clothes and my daughter's hair style on the days I'm in charge may not match my wife's effectiveness, but I try.  I make an effort to pick the right outfit and comb the hair correctly so that even if it ends in disaster no one can say I didn't try.  There is something about smaller clothes that make some dads balk, it's not that hard...We're not talking a fashion contest here, it's the same stuff you wear just smaller.

If we as dads can work on the few other dads that are bringing the rest of us down, maybe we'll start showing up in the kids books a little more, maybe we won't always get made fun of in parenting magazines, and maybe people will take us more seriously when we offer parenting advice.  We have thoughts, we have ideas, and we want to be taken seriously.