Why “The Unfit Parent”?
We get asked “Why The Unfit Parent?” a lot because people either get it right away or they shame us for calling ourselves, Unfit Parents so we thought we’d break it down for you. Let’s be clear, we in no way condone the actions of those parents that are deemed unfit. We do not take lightly our responsibilities as parents and we want to encourage other parents to be their best – for themselves and for their children.
What is an Unfit Parent?
By definition, an unfit parent may be deemed unfit if they have been abusive, neglected, or failed to provide proper care for the child. Some definitions will so go on to say a parent with a mental disturbance or addiction to drugs or alcohol.
Again, not something to be taken lightly. The reason why we decided to call ourselves “The Unfit Parent” was to bring light to the fact that no parents are perfect. Are we abusive? No. Do we mess up sometimes? Yes. Are we figuring out each day as it comes and doing our best to make it through? Of course, we are! That’s the message we want to bring to you, the reader. No one has it all together and that’s okay! We’ll make mistakes and will have to learn from them just like anyone else but the important thing is to own up to those mistakes and accept the fact that we don’t have it all together.
Parenting itself can be lonely enough, we want to do it together – that’s why we exist.
And what about “The Unfit Dad”?
Same as above but on a more personal note, After taking a 7-month parental leave this was my reality and it crept up on me very quickly! I come from years in the fitness industry and to go from working out every day and taking care of my body to eating frozen lasagna at 3 AM between baby feedings. Life was like this, day after day, month after month does something to your body. At the time I was told to embrace the dad bod and I did – I embraced it in a big way.
Before long I started to feel like crap. I was more tired, out of breath and lethargic than I had ever been. Simple things like tying my shoes started to become challenging. I had put on close to 35 lbs in that 7 months. As you can imagine, I was embarrassed going back to work and would intentionally decline invitations from friends and would not go swimming because I didn’t want people to see how I had let myself go – even if I was home with my wife taking care of babies. If I began to tell you all the pictures I didn’t take with my kids because I didn’t want them remembering me that way. The dad bod had taken over and I needed to do something about it. Thus, The Unfit Dad was born.
Hope that helps
The Unfit Dad and Now Parent were started as a resource to meet parents where they are at, mentally, emotionally, and physically. This is not a community of mom shamers and dad bashers. No dirty looks, no crude comments, just regular people fumbling our way through this journey called parenting. We want to provide a safe place where all parents can share their experiences, seek advice and most importantly feel like they belong.
So let’s do it, who’s in? Who’s ready to be an Unfit Parent?
