When my wife and I first found out that we were going to have a kid, we instantly became aware of the “parenting class” industry that had existed in our community for years without ever attracting our attention. Suddenly, there were all of these flyers, newspapers ads, and emails, offering us practical parenting instruction in friendly classroom settings.

And, as new parents-to-be, we were game for them. Almost immediately, we signed up for the childbirth class, the baby care and CPR class, the “how to install a car seat” class, the breastfeeding class, you name it.

(The only classes I remember us opting out of were the “baby massage” class and the “parenting for dads” class, which I found more than a little insulting.)

The Super Bowl, widely regarded as a yearly who’s-who of commercials, proved once again that fathers have a couple of things to piss and moan about in the “dadvertising” world, but that little-by-little, dads are being imagined better. This year, we saw seven major commercials featuring a father in a main role. The result shows an across-the-spectrum image of fathers. This, actually, is a win for dads, believe it or not.

Here, we’ll take a look at the commercials with an honest approach, attempting to let slide what truly doesn’t matter, and getting worked up over all of the right things.

News emerged this morning of a child that he fathered created with someone who wasn’t his wife. Classy!

Donna Savattere, then a 35 year old production assistant at CBS Sports, has been reportedly paid to stay quiet for years, while raising Chloe, their now-seven year old daughter.

We’ve talked about NFL dads before and even got to ask questions of one (check it after the jump), but this week brought two more NFL players highlighting the importance and impact of fatherhood.

Both Baltimore Ravens’ Ray Lewis and Green Bay Packers’ Greg Jennings mentioned fatherhood this week. We even got a little ‘tude from Jennings when someone calls him “Mr. Mom.”

A trio of football players (no, not that football, we mean American Handegg) will be going where their fathers were once before: The Pro Bowl.

The 2013 Pro Bowl roster includes Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews, New England Patriots gunner, special teams captain Matthew Slater, and Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, who all have family ties with the sport and event.

Matthews, Slater and Manning become three of only six father-son duos in history to each make it to a Pro Bowl. While we can’t chalk it up to anything more than coincidence, we do love seeing dads come out of the woodwork from time to time.

Sunday, December 2, the Greer Campaign honored nine Tennessee dads at their Second Annual Fatherhood Banquet.

The Jackson, Tennessee non-profit organization is in its second year and holds parenting classes for local fathers. The classes aim to inform fathers of their rights and responsibilities to their children, and help them reach their full potential. Think of Sunday’s banquet as the Greer Campaign’s graduation ceremony.

Dove Men+Care is hosting an event in about an hour that will delve into the inner-workings of fatherhood. Co-hosted by the Dad 2.0 Summit guys, this event features NFL legend Doug Flutie, and many dad bloggers will be in attendance (including me).

You’ll also be able to watch this event live on Facebook at 7am PST / 10am EST.