Dads in the Balance...

Dads are not immune from it. Perhaps we are just more reluctant to display it, or to even admit that we suffer from it. Perhaps we ignore it, as men tend to ignore so many sicknesses, seeing it as weakness. So it may not seem as apparent, but Dads (both those with co-pilots, and those who have embarked on a solo flight) are affected. Immunity? No!

What is this omniscient presence, this overarching condition, this malady? A newly evolved virus, a new virulent strain of a laboratory-engineered bacteria? Nothing as dramatic or as evolved. It is the ancient curse of parenting, the pre-condition to sacrifice for genetic continuation (surprisingly, even if the genes are not yours). That's right, ladies, gentlemen and fellow pilots, something that we all succumb to - guilt.

It is something that all parents have hard-wired into them. I have experienced it before, when I had a co-pilot. But I think that Solo Dads have a peculiar sub-set of the genus, which makes it resilient to the more traditional cures.

One traditional antidote to the affliction, is a variation of that well known natural remedy, "The Essence of Balance". However, balance comes in a number of forms and in many cases especially in parenting, it centres on the nature of two. A ying and a yang, an on and an off, a black and a white, an up and a down, a right and a wrong. This is where Dads with co-pilots usually have an advantage. When the nature of two is disturbed, the balance goes awry and the traditional remedies lose their potency.

What hope then for Solo Dad when this ailment makes its presence known? Should we adopt a traditionally male perspective of ignoring the symptoms and hoping that "it will go away"? Should we rush to the healer at the very hint of an infection? Should we begin to self-medicate thinking that we know best? Or should we adopt an apparently very popular treatment of seeking a counter-balance, in the hope that this will be a longer term solution?