Cult of Fatherhood by David Osborne - Essay Example

Cult of Fatherhood by David Osborne Introduction Beyond the Cult of Fatherhood, is an essay written by David Osborne about his experiences with his son Nicholas. David is a full-time parent and has a full-time job. The story is based on the practical experience of a modern-day household father. According to the author, parenting is a difficult job and taking care of children alone with responsibilities requires tremendous strength. David’s wife Rose is an OBGYN and she spends most of her time in her profession. In the entire story David appreciates mothers, who raise their children along with other household responsibilities. This essay supports the thesis statement. Thesis Statement “According to David, parenting is not an easy job and it requires tremendous patience and consciousness while taking responsibility of a child along with other works”. Analysis of the Story The story begins with a real-time explanation of the author’s son, Nick. The author mentions about his daily routine and the difficulties he has to face in-order to raise is child every day. David mentions in his story about the habits of his child that made his nights sleepless and his days busy. The story is depicts enormous love of a father towards his son despite the difficulties he has to face. David describes about his experiences from the time he wakes up and till the time he goes to bed. Nick, his son is the only thing he is concerned about in the world. David explains about his hazardous moments saying that he has to cook breakfast for his son before 6 A.M. and then he has to change his clothes and make him busy with toys (Osborne 248). David also described about the moments when his son gets bored with his toys and wants his father to pay attention towards him. David explains that he is a professional writer and he was going through a tough phase while parenting his son because he had to take special care of his son. David constantly mentioned in his story about the slight fever his son gained everyday and David could-not understand whether it was a common phenomenon or it needed special precaution. David lacked the knowledge of parenting and being a male he could not approach to women in-order to learn the same. David also mentioned in his story that he felt bad about his wife and her job because he was left alone at home with a 20-months old baby. He had very little skills regarding management of children and he went through difficult times while learning the entire system of caring of child. The author also felt that he could-not get a free-hour for himself because most of his time was spent behind caressing his child the remaining time went on his work and his sleep. Hence he wondered if he could get a free day for himself. David did-not want to lose his recognition so he decided to continue his work as well as parenting at the same time. In his entire story, David mentioned about his concern towards his son regarding his health. David was worried about the fluctuation of body-temperature his son experienced every day. Most of the children at such low age are vulnerable to infections and diseases and special attention and care is required for them. David also had a bitter experience, when he had to leave his son in a day-care center because he had to go outstation for his work. David felt bad and he was angry at himself when he learned that his son fell down and had stitches on his head. His wife Rose was stuck due to bad weather and his son had to face everything on his own. David realized that the incident would not have happened if he would have been at home with his son. David had difficult times and felt pissed-off at times but his love towards his son was always there. While the story progressed, David explained that his love towards his son was immense and he could-not imagine a moment without his son. David also realized that his wife had carried Nick in her for nine months and had suffered through labor. Moreover, his wife took care of their child completely until she joined her work again. Hence, the author understood the circumstances he was in and he started liking the time he had to spend with Nick. The author also described the moments he spent with his wife and son together. He noticed that whenever Rose is at a public place, her only concern becomes family discipline. The author gave a small example to prove readers, what he felt about it. The author narrated about the experience he had while sitting in Burger King. Suddenly his son started to scream like other children and he wanted to pamper him so that the child could stop crying. His wife Rose stopped him and let the baby cry instead because she wanted to make sure that he stops this kind of behavior in public places. Moreover, the attitude of Rose had set an impression in the author’s mind that she knew everything regarding taking care of children. Author gets upset with the behavior of his wife and he mentions that “Rose knows how to take care of children except her own.” This shows that author had a grudge towards his wife because she did not spend required time with her family and David had to learn everything about parenting on his own. Despite the facts that David did-not get time to work for him and he was losing his identity he was happy whenever he saw the innocent face and the sparkling eyes of his son. David mentioned that one day he woke up late and saw Nick was watching him and smiling. Slowly Nick got up on his knees and started kissing David on his face. This was truly a moment when he was rewarded for all his works. The author mentioned that the particular feeling can-not be expressed in words. The experiences of the author with his son Nick were truly amazing. According to author Nick enjoyed the company of his father. He cried every morning unnecessarily to get attention of his father, he did-not like to have his regular food similar to other children and he wanted to be taken out for adventures. Author had a difficult time when he had to take care of his child and he appreciated women, who used to do the same task every day. Author also explained that doing other works along with child nursing is very difficult but every mother in the world does the things neatly. David also mentioned that he felt more like a mother to Nick instead of a father because he had to every single job for Nick, from feeding to make him sleep. Conclusion From the above analysis it is clear that David Osborne, the author of the story ‘Beyond the Cult of Fatherhood’ had to go through difficult times while parenting for his son Nicholas. The author did-not know anything about bringing-up a child but he managed to learn from his mistakes. He used to spend most of his time with his son and completed all his works in-order to manage his works in time. David’s wife Rose was an OBGYN and she did-not spend much time with her family due to which David was upset. David knew that their child needed his mother more than his father but he did-not any let his son feel the emptiness of his mother. Hence it can be concluded that, parenting is not an easy job and it requires tremendous patience and consciousness while taking responsibility of a child along with other works. Works Cited Osborne, David. Beyond the Cult of Fatherhood. 1985. Web. 31 Oct. 2014. < http://ptfaculty.gordonstate.edu/msilverman/Osborne.%20beyond%20the%20Cult%20of%20Fatherhood.pdf>. Read More