The dads who won't grow up

Remember when the twentysomething lad was the hot demographic? The brewing industry fought to quench his thirst, everyone from Duffer to Top Man wanted to clothe him, while the likes of FHM, Maxim and Loaded became essential reading matter for Britain's beery, untucked generation.

Now those footy-obsessed boys with Liam Gallagher haircuts and Damon Albarn attitudes are growing old disgracefully, and having kids. The dad is fast becoming to the Noughties what the Lad was to the Nineties, and the likes of Jamie Oliver, Jude Law and Norman Cook are leading the way.

For those who are not sure about the correct dress code for the sand-pit terraces, in September Marks and Spencer is launching Sp (it's racing jargon for "starting prices", meaning "those in the know"). It is a new line of clothes with an urban feel aimed at "dads who are still lads". Burton, it has to be said, got there first. Another once conservative brand, it is now worn by hip British men, including Goldie and Vinnie Jones, and its new clothes are grown-up enough for the school run, but have a trendy edge.

Inspired by the burgeoning dad fad, FQ (Father's Quarterly), a new lifestyle magazine for fathers, is being launched this week with superdad David Beckham on the cover, following hot on the heels of the New Labour-endorsed Dad magazine, which has Pierce Brosnan on the front and is distributed free of charge in ante-natal clinics and maternity wards.

FQ targets former lad-mag readers whose priorities have changed since starting a family, with stories on fashion, cars and finance. Although, as any new dad will tell you, all thoughts of splashing out on a new motor get thrown out with the baby's bathwater because being a London father - nanny fees that rival high-class call-girl rates, nurseries that charge the same daily tariff as a Schrager hotel - is cripplingly expensive.

As a father of two, I can see where FQ and Burton are going with all this. Fatherhood is a tricky time for men like me. I am too old to be a lad but far too immature to be a proper grown-up. I have outgrown Glastonbury but I am not quite ready for Annabel's. I am a semi-domesticated kidult, culturally stuck somewhere between the Matrix Reloaded and loading the Bendix.

But I am a very proud and responsible father to my daughters - just not the type who drives a people carrier, listens to the Lighthouse Family and wears mail-order chinos.

That said, I am on the verge of becoming an embarrassing lad dad to my two young girls. I am a dad who helps with maths homework, is okay about having his face painted and builds tree houses, but also has an encyclopaedic knowledge of hip hop and uses the word "wack".

I wear Vivienne Westwood and cause cheek-blushing mortification on the school run by playing my 50 Cent CD too loud. Should I be ashamed? Probably.

But aren't dads supposed to be embarrassing?