Dad
Top 50 Dad Blogs of 2012
Last year, when we inaugurated our Top 50 Dad Blogs list, we praised dad bloggers for “changing the way we think about fatherhood.” Indeed, a number of our favorite bloggers on this, our second Top 50 list, insist our thinking needs to be changed. They describe themselves as advocates for fathers, taking to their keyboards in order to counter dominant cultural stereotypes of dad-as-incompetent-buffoon. (You don’t believe them? Tune in to most any family sitcom on most any night of the week.) Others on the list aspire simply to entertain us with funny, relatable tales from the trenches. A few write to work through the shattering grief of losing a child or spouse.
This list features straight dads, gay dads, working dads, stay-at-home dads, geek dads, single dads, and more. In a culture where the dominant conversations around fatherhood center simply on whether dads can deign to change their kid's diaper, it's refreshing to see these guys take the public perception of parents into their own hands. We are again struck by the variety of their voices and experiences, which itself puts the lie to the notion of any one “typical dad.” A lot of our favorites from last year are back, while many worthy entrants are making their debuts. We hope you’ll enjoy laughing, crying, nodding, and discovering along with them as much as we have. As dads' online influence grows, this list will only become more and more difficult to curate — and that's a good problem to have. If you think we missed any of your favorite dad bloggers, nominate them here. – Barbara Spindel and the dad blog panel
Groundbreaking
1
The term “lesbian dad” refers to the half of a lesbian couple who fulfills the parenting role traditionally associated with the father. The blog “Lesbian Dad” concerns, as its author eloquently puts it, “parenthood generally, and lesbian parenthood in particular…More»
Lesbian Dad
2
With the title in distressed, Soviet-hip font, the logo (a beer bottle crossed on a baby bottle, in the manner of the hammer and sickle) on a field of faded red and yellow, and an exhortation to JOIN THE MOVEMENT right on the splash page, DadCentric boasts the…More»
DadCentric
3
We don’t know who Black Hockey Jesus is. Perhaps his moniker, like that of the Holy Roman Empire, is three misnomers, and he is neither black, nor a hockey player, nor the Son of God. We cannot say, and we’re not sure we’d believe him even if he were…More»
Black Hockey Jesus
4
“We are just two more yuppies raising their kids in the most dangerous city in America,” Jim Griffioen says of life in Detroit with 7-year-old Juniper and 4-year-old Gram. Started in 2005 by Griffioen and his wife, Sweet Juniper has appeared on our list of…More»
Sweet Juniper
5
Doug French’s firstborn son was 15 months old when Dad lost his job (or, as French puts it, when “the large, corporate stink-palace that signed my checks decided it didn’t want to anymore”)…More»
Laid Off Dad
6
Clicking through Portland, Oregon artist/designer (and stay-at-home dad) Joel Henriques’s lovely blog brings to mind the words of 30 Rock’s Liz Lemon: we want to go to there. There’s something soothing and inviting about the beautifully designed site…More»
Made by Joel
7
“You cannot beat the blog life!” exclaims Mitch on the Celebrities page of his Gay NYC Dad site. He certainly seems to mean it: Mitch’s enthusiasm jumps off the screen, whether he’s reviewing products and offering giveaways or praising the celebs he meets at blogger…More»
Gay NYC Dad
8
Truth be told, this is less a site about how to be a dad than a site about how not to be one. There are two SoCal fathers behind this joint operation, which appeared on last year’s list at #45: Charlie Capen, an artistic triple threat (actor-musician-writer)…More»
How to Be a Dad
9
Dad Labs claims to be “taking back paternity,” and indeed the site, which ranked #8 on last year’s group blog list, is all about grabbing fatherhood by the horns. The frequent dispatches cover everything from running to co-sleeping to the BBST…More»
Dad Labs
10
Rob Rummel-Hudson’s 12-year-old daughter, Schuyler, suffers from a rare neurological condition called Bilateral Perisylvian Polymicrogyria and is unable to speak. His moving and insightful blog, which began in February of 2006 and ranked #5 on last year’s list…More»
Fighting Monsters with Rubber Swords
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I am humbled to be included.
Many thanks.
Mitch