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
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Rude Cactus
Writing about his daughter’s natural athletic ability, Chris Cactus says, “I am a little pissed when she hands my ass to me at bowling.” He also owns up to swearing when he loses to his kids at Candyland. In general, though, this Cactus isn’t all that rude. His is one of the snazziest-looking dad blogs out there (it ranked 16 on last year’s list) and one of the oldest: Cactus has been faithfully sharing his thoughts with us since 2003. His writing is heartfelt and candid, and his entries run the gamut – fatherhood, politics (he leans left), music, literature, and of course plenty of observations and insights into being dad to two kids, Mia Bean and Owen. Best of all, his sense of humor, like the climate where a certain needled plant grows, runs dry.
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I am humbled to be included.
Many thanks.
Mitch