The Internet Thinks About Dads

Perhaps the best site on the 'net for gathering collective wisdom is Ask Metafilter, so I was tickled when author extraordinarie Andi Buchanan passed along two wonderful MeFi threads on fathers.

The first focuses on on a would-be PhD who is trying to choose between school, SAHD-dom or some combination of the two. The responses are wonderfully pragmatic ... while no one makes a bold call to check it all in favor of full-time parenthood, the crowd is supportive of the pull between the two options (and realistic about the prospects of trying to pull both of them off). The real noteworthy part is that no one seems to find the question at all puzzling coming from a guy, which is as it should be.

The second is just a wonderful series of answers on how to be a dad to a daughter. It's a testament to how deeply fathers have touched those who are posting (and how deeply being a father has touched them). It's a great read, and something I may keep bookmarked to give me instant perspective.