Manly Men and Daddies

Being a dad changes a guy. No doubt about it. Fatherhood has the power to take even a manly-man's man and turn him into a tender, playful, silly creature we call "Daddy." Now these manly-man's men won't admit it, but deep down, guys love the Daddy role.

Mind you, I'm not speaking from experience, yet. For now, I just have joyful anticipation of the blessed event. But I speak from observation. (Because lets face it. From this end of the spectrum, it's easy to look around you and see everybody else in all their follies and greatness. Plus, I've read the books, and I know all about it <grin>.)

Take for example, T, my neighbor. T is the manly-man's man. He's kind of gruff. He likes working on his car. He favors "wife-beater" style tank tops. From my perspective, he's a stereotypical guy. But get him talking about his three-year-old son and he melts. The other night, DW (is this the proper lingo for referring to my dearest wife?) was talking to T in the driveway, and T was talking about how fatherhood is hard, but it's the most rewarding thing he's ever done. His love for his kids is palpable. He's their Daddy and he loves it.

Then you've got my friend D, who gets positively gushy when it comes to his daughter. I don't know how many times I've had phone calls telling me about "important" firsts: like the first time she tried to grab the phone away from him while he was talking on it, and the first time she farted and then looked at Daddy to see him giggle with her.

At work, these guys maintain this façade of manliness, but you should have seen the way one of my co-workers bounced all over the last company party so he could show his little girl to all his work friends. It was adorable to watch.

Yep. Guys think that they are going to remain manly, but here's the secret: the best dads don't. At least not at home with the kids. At home they are Daddy.

At work, however? Well, that's a different story.