#HowToDad

It’s about time to see an ad that reflect dads and husbands as men of integrity and strength. The new Cheerios ad for their Peanut Butter Cheerios is simply stated…awesome and long overdue!

In this commercial, the father is not reflected as a sniveling idiot lacking all parenting skills.

Instead, he shows us a dad who is seemingly on top of his game—delivering a rapid-fire manifesto about the wonders of dadhood as he navigates his house, making sure his wife and four kids are all happy and well cared for. He’s sensitive but no pushover. He’s the rule maker, not the rule breaker—but he’ll be your buddy as well. He’s a good dad, one who cares about his kids, even though he wings one son across a bed in the first scene.

In this commercial the picture of parenthood presented is a messy one: the kids jump on the bed, one has a broken arm, the bathroom is occupied, and while the house is sunny and fashionably appointed, it also has tables strewn with pencils and magazines and laundry still sitting in its basket on the couch.

It displays the strength of families and shows a more realistic picture of their lives. That means messy houses, an acknowledgement of the chaos of parenting, and recognition of the role that both father and mother play.

So often in ads these past years, we see the mom taking charge and the role of the father is absent. We need to quit displaying a lack of responsibility of the father, instead, we as fathers should heed the final line in the commercial: #howtodad.

Let’s renew the spirit and be the dads we are called to be!