Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Dad Site - Because Dads Don't Always Think Like Moms

Try this. Search 'parenting' in any search engine and you'll be surprised to see that almost all the results featuring websites created for moms. Not only is the shortage of good information on dads frustrating, but also the status quo for dad sites is not the same. The fact is that most parenting websites conveniently ignore dads.

Feeding this is the stereotype that dads are always "away, earning the bread" while moms play the all-important role of nurturing kids. Thankfully, with changing times, terms like 'stay-at-home-dad', 'gay dad', 'single dad' don't attract puzzled stares that would have been the case just a few decades back.

Why a Dad Site
Dads are as important as moms in the lives of their children. According to research, children with little or no contact with their fathers are more likely to drop out of school and become involved in drug, alcohol abuse, crime, and violence. Even many fathers who are around their children are not emotionally present.

Dads' parenting style is quite different from moms. One is not better than the other. In fact, research has revealed that kids develop more completely when the parenting styles of dads and moms complement each other. It is important to understand that fathers parent differently because dads don't always think like moms.

What most dads need is a single place to discuss parenting issues and experiences with each other and improve their parenting skills. That's where a good dad site comes in. A good parenting website built by and for men can help them become the dads their children desperately need.

Dad Site for the New Age Dad
Clearly, men are from Mars which is why most parenting issues are alien to them. The new age dad is now grappling with new terms like ectopic pregnancy and pregnancy calculator that his forbears would have been careful about discussing in public. Considering this shift in attitude, a dad site needs to cater to common but embarrassing questions such as "is sex during pregnancy bad?" and also provide fathers with information on how to deal with the overwhelming experience of being a father.

As Paul Banas, founder of GreatDad, points out, "Many dads today are more involved in parenting but have limited resources from a man's point of view from which to better understand the challenges of their changing role." It was this thought that led Paul to start the only online parenting resource with a dad's point of view. In fact, GreatDad.com is the only dad site to offer a pregnancy newsletter for fathers.

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