I read a good interview over at Husbands and Dads blog with Dr. Michael Kimmel about the “guy phase” that sits in between childhood and manhood.  This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.  Now for reference, my wife and I got married at a pretty young age, I was 21 and she was 20.  Before that we had dated for about 5 years.  I started my my first job when I was 15 and aside from a few months in between jobs here and there, I have worked since then.

I give you all this background to make the point that I don’t necessarily fit the over-generalized profile of a guy in his twenties. I still have “guyish” tendencies though.  I love playing video games, a night out with “the boys”, and generally lazing around from time to time.  Looking back at my father and grandfathers though, I can’t help but wonder why it is that these days the “guy” phase keeps being extended at the expense of embracing manhood for a lot of men.

My paternal predecessors matured earlier because they had no choice.  Life for them was much harder for them than it was for me.  Isn’t that the way it is supposed to be though? Every father wants to provide a better life for their children.  But does my generation have it too good?

College is routinely seen as nothing more than a big party, and that first “real” job that puts a little money in our pockets just opens up more avenues of fun.  I think the way marriage and family is portrayed in a lot of media is partially to blame for the extended “guy” phase.  Let’s face it, marriage is not often portrayed as fun.

Think about it, there’s normally the idiot/overweight/lazy/ husband or dad.  He is always at odds with his nagging/manipulative/shopaholic wife.  Oh boy! Where do I sign up!  The fact of the matter is that these days if a man is willing to admit that life is not supposed to be 24 hours of “fun” everyday he may very well find that having a family is the one of the most rewarding things they can achieve.

I realize that all men are different and there is no set schedule, but every now and then we should all take a look in the mirror and decide if today is the day we start to grow up.