• more about #firstdads more comments →
    Skellatrix: I really hope everyone here with a wonderful father (or even an okay father. Or even a father) shows him some love and appreciation on Father's Day (w... more »
    Rosaxé: Does anyone remember the open letter he wrote to his daughters, I think when he first became President? Brought a tear to my eye. more »
    rumpelshowsskin: This is also the thing that no one ever talks about: women who are too laid-back and casual around kids get tagged as non-nurturing and incompetent. I... more »
    PreposterousHypothesis: My fiance is a single dad. Both he and the girl's mother are very much involved in her life. They divorced when she was one year old, and as almost a ... more »
    MilointheMeadow: I'm just jealous that Barack Obama isn't my dad. I didn't even MEET my dad until I was a teenager and he never paid child support. So my whole life ... more »
    bowleserised: Dads are never competitive? That's rot. Has that writer never been to a children's sporting event? Oh and... more »
    Eric Northman is mine: Also why in most cases do Dads get to be the laid back parent/good cop while women get to be the bad cop. It just shows how in most cases women have t... more »
    kiki_smells_something_fishy: When I hear expressions like "laid-back parent" I always think about the million things that you have to take care of on a daily basis... from breakfa... more »
    Aesop's Foibles. YES.: I adore reading about our President's relationship with his family. I really do believe he is a father first and foremost, and that's awesome. Knowing... more »
    TheUptightMidwesterner: My husband, while approaching impending fatherhood with a lot of fear, immaturity and resentment, has somehow managed to turn into a remarkable dad. H... more »
    missteenwordpower: Instinctive? Please. Girls are given baby dolls from birth. I've been babysitting since I was 12, camp-counseling since I was 13, tutoring since I was... more »
    tscheese: In the very, very, VERY distant and nebulous future, I might be with someone with whom I'd want to reproduce. I don't know yet, though; I'm pretty uns... more »
    applejuice: I persoanlly think that kids benefit from having their Dad being more laid back and their mom a little less so (or vice versa). It means they get some... more »
    dancerevolution: It's really interesting, to me, that Obama did not have a good father (or really a father at all) and that he turned out to be so balanced, intelligen... more »
    SmallbutMighty: I can't wait to watch my husband become a father someday. I'm actually a lot more excited about that than becoming a mom myself. I'm afraid of motherh... more »
  • #firstdads

    Barack Obama And The Changing Face Of Fatherhood

    In an excerpt of an essay in the upcoming issue of Parade magazine (full text available Sunday), Barack Obama talks about what it means to be a dad. More »