The nursery is decorated and awaiting its new occupant. The beer in the fridge remains untouched just in case he needs to do a midnight run to the hospital. He's arranged with his bosses to take time off. An everyday story - a regular guy.
And I'm sure he'll need no persuading to play his full part to the best of his ability in his son or daughter's life, both financially and emotionally. So he was slightly taken aback on a recent prenatal visit to be handed a copy of a (very, very) glossy men's style magazine called Dad, free of charge and courtesy of the government (and the publisher Show Media), telling him what fatherhood is about.
Me, I'm all for educating people to be the best parents they can, although perhaps not through government intervention (a case of the nanny state taking itself too literally, perhaps). But presenting fatherhood as something most people can neither afford nor aspire to, as this magazine does, doesn't seem to me to be the best way to go about it. All new dads should be helped and encouraged to enjoy their children. It doesn't require David Beckham's wise words on baby sick and Armani suits and glamour shots of top-of the-range buggies. How very unlike our own home lives.
Your average new dad has very real but different concerns. Perhaps the 50,000 to 100,000 government subsidy for this magazine (the figures vary) might have been better spent on setting up some support, advice and counselling projects on the ground for young dads (and I speak as a publisher). Okay, it wouldn't have gone that far, but it may have met some needs and blazed a trail for similar projects to follow. And for those new dads with money to burn and unable to decide which baby buggy colour co-ordinates best with their Armani - well, they could always buy themselves a copy of Dad magazine.
