Daddies everywhere
By
on
December 1st, 2005
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Being a father in Sweden is definitely different than other countries. And it’s different in a good way. Most fathers are very involved in their kids lives from a very early age. And when I say involved I don’t mean spending an hour at the playground, putting the baby to sleep, or changing diapers twice a week. Fathers here see it as completely natural to take six months parental leave and be as involved as mothers in baby groups etc.
This became very apparent at our most recent swimming class. We have recently started our second class of baby swimming and I have eight kids around two years in the group. The class is not advanced but fun. We spend half an hour playing games and doing simple exercises. Believe or not but we showed up first and sat down by the very warm pool to wait for the others. After a few minutes all other kids were present but when I looked around I saw only fathers with their kids. Not one single mother was present. One mother finally showed up as the class got started. And this happens all the time. You see almost as many dads with carriages on the bus and mothers. And stop by any cozy café and you will find lots of dads grabbing some food while their little one is taking a nap or eating as well. It’s really great to see.
This is of course exactly as it should be all over the world but as you all know many have limited possibilities, mostly because of their work situation. People here don’t realize how fortunate they are to be able to spend so much time with their kids. Not only do we have unbelievable parental leave benefits but there are also fairly short work days and many employers are very flexible. I notice it because we have traveled so much around the world and seen the different ways people handle their kids. And of course also because i read lots of parents blogs (hint, check out the links on the left side) I must admit that I get chills when I see how little most fathers see their kids during a week. And how little of the daily work they do in the home. It’s pretty scary.
I really hope I never end up in a situation where I can’t spend lots of time with my kid and be involved in his every day life.
Almost makes me want to move to Sweden. :)