From Inside Pregnancy.org: Men's involvement in pregnancy and birth and their participation in the early years of their child/children's lives has changed dramatically over the past 25 years. In 1965, about 5% of fathers attended the birth of their child. In 1989, almost 95% of fathers were present at childbirth.
By the year 2020, not only will fathers be legally obliged to be present at the birth, but most will have "four dimensional" ultrasound recordings of their baby(ies) playing on their V-Pods through the pregnancy instead of music. They will also demand paternal leave from a time somewhere in the third trimester. The transformation of fatherhood has been huge over the last generation - but as I will explain in this book (blog?), you ain't seen nuthin' yet.
The amazing fatherhood trends over the last generation are going to be eclipsed by the upheaval of the next. New technology, Globalisation and the entrenchment of bad soap operas will have wide ranging consequences for those of us with a Y chromosome thinking we should pass something of value on to the next generation.
It all begins before we even make that crucial decision that we will have children - and it doesn't end even when we get reverse charge phone calls on fathers day in our fully automated robotic nursing homes of the future. You must be prepared and this book may or may not do that, but you will get an inkling of what you have gotten yourself in for.
I have isolated 7 stages of fatherhood.
1) Planning to Conception.
2) Pregnancy to childbirth.
3) Raising Babies.
4) Taming Toddlers.
5) Living with Tweenagers.
6) Adjusting to Adolescents.
7) When am I going to get rid of you AAARRGGHH.
Having had 4 children of my own over the space of a decade shuffled between the sexes, I have observed some telling, and sometimes disturbing trends, and I feel an obligation to pre-warn any father coming into any of the listed stages, to what you've got yourself in for. With some issues, I can only offer simpathy rather than advice, and the advice I do give may be impossible to implement. But at the very least, you will recognise more mistakes as you repeat them, and you will wonder at the predictive abilities of those that came before you.
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I would comment, but I find it too emotionally disturbing. You see, the only significant ambition I have is to have more children, but I know this is unlikely to happen. Hence as far as biology is concerned my life is already over. So I just keep on doing what I do, happy enough in the main because my life is otherwise perfect, but sapped of any real drive to achieve anything. I am content: but I amafraid this contentment is too close to despair for me to read your book, Marco.
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