It’s Father’s Day! We want to shine a well-deserved spotlight on Dad. With the majority of babies born now being born to Millennial Dads (those born between 1981 – 1996) we thought it would be fun to take a closer look at the types of Millennial Dad.
1. The Tech mad Dad
Millennials grew up in the boom period of computer technology. The tech mad Dad spent their childhood rainy afternoons with Mario, Donkey Kong, Sonic and Chun Li. He had a “SNES” …or Super Nintendo Entertainment System to the rest of us. The highlight of his formative years was the day the family got their first PC and dial up Internet.
How to Spot a TMD: He’ll be sporting a fitness watch that will be blue toothed to his phone at all times. His phone, which of course is the latest model, will be blue toothed to his car, his tablet and his at home printer…in fact everything will be blue toothed to everything. He categorises other tech dads by whether they are team Apple or team Android and this will be his go to discussion piece with the other Dads at kid’s parties
2. The Handyman Dad
This kind of Dad is more of a rare breed in the millennial generation. You might call this Dad the Trad Dad or DIY Dad. He likely grew up in one of two scenarios; either with a traditional Dad himself and learned his practical skills on Sunday afternoons in the garage with his Dad and a trusty Black and Decker Workmate. Or he grew up as man of the house and learned by mowing the lawn, rewiring plugs and wallpapering the living room to help his Mum out.
How to spot the Handyman Dad: You will see him on the school runs in practical clothes, maybe even with a tool belt and steel-toe-cap shoes with paint or plaster dust in his hair. His go to kid’s party chat will likely include a cautionary tale about the one time he paid someone else to do DIY job and how he would never again pay someone for something he can do himself. He will also show you photos of his current DIY project on his phone. …Which has a cracked screen.
3. The LinkedIn Dad
This Dad was always keen on making money; growing up, after completing his morning paper round he would spend his Saturdays helping in the family shop. With a family instilled work ethic he went to university where he graduated with honours.
How to Spot the LinkedIn Dad: Well he’s probably added you on LinkedIn, and he will be on your feed daily posting industry relevant articles. His profile picture will feature him in a sharp suit looking serious. If he’s not on his work phone at the Kid’s party he will talk about “the market” and his investments.
4. The Big Kid Dad
The Big Kid Dad grew up in the age of You’ve Been Framed and Jackass; he had a wide circle of friends, who he still likes to relive his youth with now. As well as playing football and other sports they would play a lot of practical jokes on each other and as they grew older he and his friends became big fans of fancy dress nights out, drinking games and pub-crawls.
How to Spot the Big Kid Dad: He prefers to dress as casual as possible often in brightly coloured t-shirts with prints from his favourite childhood TV shows or computer games. He wore converse trainers to his wedding, had a candy floss machine and large inflatables at the reception. He doesn’t really have a kid’s party conversation piece as you are more likely to find him on the bouncy castle with the rest of the children.
5. The WFH Dad
The Work From Home Dad is a happy-go-lucky Dad. He was pretty chilled growing up and happy to go with the flow. He would play football with the lads and go shopping with his Mum. He worked reasonably hard at school and university and started his career in a graduate role for a modern forward thinking company that encourages flexible working.
How to Spot the WFH Dad: He will be wearing shorts all year round, a baby forward facing in a buckled carrier and a perma-smile. He’s a pretty laid back happy guy and whilst unlikely to drive a conversation at the kids party he will be enthusiastic to talk to everyone about pretty much anything.
6. The Insta-Dad
The insta Dad had a pretty traditional upbringing with one sister and one brother, who was best man at his wedding. He was the family clown always trying to make people laugh as can be seen in the family photo albums still on the bookcase at his parents’ house chronicling happy family Christmases and holidays.
How to Spot the Insta-Dad: This king of the hashtag will always have his phone out primed to take the perfect ‘flat-lay’ shots, landscape shots, selfie shots and videos. He documents the trials and tribulations of every day parenting with a heavy dose of comical honesty. You will see it all on this Dads Instagram grid; baby code browns, his pregnant wife’s morning sickness, toddler ransacked living rooms and everything in between. His go to kid’s party conversation piece will include the latest tale of what his crazy two year old twin boys got up to last week.
If you're a dad which one are you? Mama's can you recognise anyone in here? My dad is not a millennial dad, but if he was he'd definitely be the DIY Dad.
Have we missed any dad types? Let us know in the comments below!