"Pop" Culture  

Shrink and Son

This is the first episode in my "Pop" Culture series where I go straight to the source (mine, anyway) to ask about what it means to be a modern dad.  I think my father, Dr. David W. Havens, M.D., has a number of particularly keen insights as he's not just a dad but has counseled men/women dealing with family issues for about 40 years (we figured out on the show that's he's sat in a chair helping people for 100,000+ hours in his lifetime).

It's interesting to note that my dad said most guys used to look to their father-in-law's if they didn't have their own dad nearby (or living) to model their fathering after.  Plus my dad thinks that society is about twenty years or so behind what's actually happening in the world when it comes to parenting.  He also agrees with me that if you're a stay at home dad (which I have been, on and off), people will likely think there's something wrong with you if they see you at the plaground with your kids.  Their inner monlogue will run something like, "he's probably out of a job," or, "maybe he's a widower." 

I'll be interviewing my dad again soon as I'd love to hear how he thought his dad reacted to being a father.  Wartime seemed to affect everything else about life, and I'm thinking fatherhood is no different.  Hope you'll join us and I'll have that time/date up soon.