I just read a great newspaper column by Leah McLaren that is basically telling all the slacker generation Dads that despite what they think, their parenthood is not cool and ironic.

What interests me is that so much of the anecdotal stuff about these guys is disturbingly familiar. I didn’t dress my two-year old up in a Ramones t-shirt, but I did dance around the kitchen to I Wanna be Sedated with one of my babies more than once. The guitar break is great for spinning.

I tried JagerMeister a few times when it was being promoted in alternative bars in the 90’s. I may have bought about 2 bottles of it to use as an apéritif at home. I basically turned away from it as it became a cliché. Also, with the information about red wine being a good preventative for heart disease, we try to have a dose of it daily and generally avoid other alcoholic drinks.

I have eclectic tastes in music. This is something in my nature, its not something I do so I can say “I have eclectic tastes in music.” I had mostly given up trying to inflict my tastes on my kids and making judgements about their taste, when I picked them up from a relatives house and found out that somebody had given them the Hanson CD. Not Beck Hanson (their older brother?)…Hanson. I gritted my teeth. My daughter and I both like Death Cab for Cutie, and Martin Tielli, that’s enough. I had a children’s book/cd that Martin had illustrated, and I had it in my pocket one night when I went to see his band. I sat with the band in a basement bar while he signed it for my daughters. I think I was cringing a bit because that was the closest I ever got to the Cool Dad cliché.