With a few rare exceptions, dad-as-primary-caregiver portrayals in the media (be it movies, television or commercials) fall into two basic categories:

• The bumbling dad who is forced into caring for the kid due to the loss of a job. This is always, always played for laughs.
• The bumbling dad who is suddenly thrust into a caregiver role through the sudden absence the kid’s mother, through death or abandonment. Here it will sometimes be played as a tragic circumstance, initially, but eventually for laughs as well as the poor guy struggles with diapers and how to feed and clothe a child without getting pee’d on.

“Sitcom Dad”, as he’s known, isn’t a new phenomenon by any means, nor is it limited to at-home dads. Working dads often receive the same bumbling, know-nothing portrayal as well when it comes to doing anything domestic or child-related — with the possible exception of discipline or playing video games. We’re all familiar with the exasperated wife character whose husband is little more than a large child.

What’s shocking is just how all-pervasive this kind of portrayal has become. A goofy dad in a comedy is one thing, but how, during a time when more and more dads are taking more active parenting roles than ever before (by choice or by necessity), do we still have commercials like this popping up?

Who at AT&T thought it was a clever idea to sell phones by tapping into the market of guys who try to entertain a toddler by dangling his keys? I’m not going to suggest there are not a sadly large group of dads out there who are clueless about how to deal with their own child, but… really?

It’s not just the media, either. What dad hasn’t taken their child out in public and had their ability to care for their own child passive-aggressively judged by well-meaning old ladies at the grocery store? Would anyone approach a woman with a young child and tell the child “Now, you tell mommy you need to be wearing a hat in this weather…”? I’m guessing not as often.

Now, I’m not going to claim I don’t sometimes make stupid mistakes, or that every aspect of being an at-home dad came or will ever come easily.  Any parent who doesn’t admit that parenting is almost entirely “learn as you go” is lying to you.

But believe me, any bumbling I do I was doing LONG before our son came along.