Profiles of Men Who Have Earned the Title of “Super Dad”

David, 42, is a hedge fund manager and father of two children ages 8 months and 4 years. He would like to spend more time with his children, but has to work 80-hour weeks to keep his funds sufficiently hedged. Several nights a week he “has drinks with clients after work” and “sleeps in his office” so as not to disturb his wife and children by coming home in the middle of the night. He spends every Saturday golfing with his friends. One Sunday per month he takes both kids grocery shopping by himself.

Alex, 38, is a patent attorney and father of four. His work schedule has been crazy lately, but he hopes things will settle down soon and he’ll be able to spend more time with his kids. He has missed all but one of his children’s school functions the past five years due to “work meetings.” He is currently having an affair with his twenty-three-year-old legal assistant. He spends most weekends at her loft in Brooklyn when he is “catching up on paperwork.” He once took his children to an amusement park and posted a selfie on Facebook with his 3-year-old on his shoulders eating a drippy ice cream cone.

Mike, 47, is a neurosurgeon and father of twin five-year-old boys. His wife is an attorney. She cut back to part-time after the boys were born because Mike’s work schedule was “too unpredictable” to share day care pickup duties. Mike is an avid runner and runs 10K races most weekends, usually in locations best described as “anywhere more than 100 miles from his home.” Every now and then he takes the boys to the park on Sunday mornings and plays chase so his wife can catch up on laundry.

Jeff, 28, is a freelance writer and father of a two-month-old girl. His wife is currently on maternity leave from her job as a social worker so he has plenty of time to sit at Starbucks for ten hours every day “working on his screenplay” while she is home with the baby. One morning per week, Jeff takes his daughter for a walk in her stroller somewhere a lot of people can see them.

Matt, 33, is twice divorced and has three children from his two marriages. He works in sales. He travels a lot for work, but he has all his kids every other weekend. It just so happens that on his weekends with the kids, he usually spends ten to twelve hours at the horse track while the kids “spend quality time with their grandparents.” Matt’s oldest child vomited on Matt’s head once and Matt always reminds everyone about it.

Nathan, 52, is an engineer and father of two adult children. He is very proud that he was such an involved father when his children were growing up—he coached their little league baseball team for two whole seasons. His ex-wife remembers things differently, but “what does she know anyway?” Nathan spends much of his free time now following Mom bloggers on social media and correcting their parenting mistakes with helpful comments that are always greatly appreciated.