Thursday, April 12, 2007

NY Times on 60-and-over dads

Under the headline "He’s Not My Grandpa. He’s My Dad" the New York Times today wrote about older dads, or as they refer to them, SODs - start-over dads. The story examines family life for dads 60 and older, and includes a list of "SODs" such as Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart and Kenny Rogers. Most of the story focuses, however, on the psychological ups and downs for families with an older dad in the picture It's a very good read and I highly recommend it.

By the way, I'm not likely to adopt the "SOD" shorthand. Plenty of us are not starting over, just starting out. Anyone got a better catchphrase for older dads?

12 comments:

goggly said...

Hi
i join your club of 'father after 40'.
become dad at 46 with our baby born on March 16th and I must youngest dad of this 40 plus lot!!
I have linked your site to my blog and am sure more fathers join our fraternity
regards
milind

Daddy G. said...

milind,

Congratulations - she's absolutely beautiful! Nice video on your site. Welcome to the club - is she your first child?

Anonymous said...

Hi.
I'm not a father after 40 but my partner/husband is. He is significantly older than me and we have two kids together. This is his second family and our situation is much like what was described in the Times article. As an example, his grandchildren and our children are in the same age cohort (age range 2-8).

Not sure what I would call guys over 40 just starting out. These days, 40s is not so old, and around here it's pretty common to see slightly graying dads pushing strollers while sipping a latte and holding a dog leash (talk about multitasking). To me, though, these guys look young, pretty much like every other dad in the neighborhood. I guess it all depends on how you look at it.

Good luck!

Daddy G. said...

hey, thanks for your post. My parents were in that same kind of children/grandchildren thing - my sister had a baby four months after I was born. I always just thought of my neice as my sister, since we were so close in age.

Anonymous said...

ch 11 wants to do a story on older dads anyone interested in being interviewed call NL at 917-992-1022

Daddy G. said...

cool - can we find out when it airs so we can link to it if the story is posted?

Anonymous said...

My husband is 53 and I'm 30. We just had our first baby in December. First time marriage for both of us. Not sure what word to use to describe him other than "Jonathan's Daddy." He does a beautiful job with our son and is even a stay at home Dad!

Daddy G. said...

Hey, congratulations to both of you. I learned two big things from being a father: 1) having kids is the most rewarding yet life-changing experience you'll ever have and 2) You're never too old to feel amazed and blessed. "Jonathan's Daddy" has a much nicer ring than SOD, don't you think? :) I hope you'll share some more of your experiences here.
I'm very much interested in hearing what it's like for a family with a stay-at-home dad.

Paul

Ameera said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Is there a support group for children of older fathers? I'm the eldest child of a start-over-dad and have to make some tough decisions that none of my friends have made, and won't make until they are twice my age, and settled. I need some advice, on how I can take care of my aging father, without stopping my life. (I'm 27, single, and have recently started my career, and very fast feel as though I'm going to have four dependants.) I am also afraid that I don't have much time left with my father. Does anyone know where I can get some support?

Daddy G. said...

Hey -- becuase this post is kind of old, I made a new post out of your comment in the hopes of eliciting some response for you. Just go to my blog's main page to see the most recent post.

Anonymous said...

I am the first child of a SOD. There is a 45 year age difference between myself and my sibling (that's more than between my father and myself). Having VERY hard time with this, despite the fact that I am an adult. Have not been able to find resources or information for 1st children of SODs. Can anyone help?