Alternadad
I can say pretty definitively that when I was in my early 20s, I never pictured myself as the father of three kids living in a Boston exurb. I thought at the time that I'd probably be kid-less until my mid-30s, and until then try to live some sort of semi-urban bohemian lifestyle.
This was, of course, not to pass. By the time I was in my mid-20s I had one kid and another on the way, and moved farther and farther from the city until I found myself more than an hour from anything resembling an urban landscape.
The tradeoff hasn't been bad, for the most part, but I do feel a bit out of place when I go to school functions or other events in town and realize that I don't share a lot of commonality with the other people my age here, or the other people who are in the same social stratus as me.
Finally, a book has been written on this subject, and it's great. It's called Alternadad and it's written by Neil Pollack. This guy is an expert in pop culture, his wife is an artist, and they've had a kid, and this is his story as a dad trying to balance that very bizarre dichotomy of trying to stay hip and cool while you're wiping snot off your kid's face; trying to be responsible as a parent while making sure that your kids still know who The Ramones are.
Anyway, I know at least a few of you who read this blog are in the same boat as me. Check it out of the library or take a gander at it in the bookstore. I think you'll like it.