THE LIST: Fatherhood over the three generations: If you kids had any idea how easy you’ve got it...

Grandpa came from a time when dating meant meeting the parents first - so what would he make of swipe-right romance? David Elliott explores three generations of fatherhood in his family.

David Elliott explores three generations of fatherhood in his family.

Cleaning out the home office the other day I found a photo of my late dad, grandpa and I, and it got me thinking about how different our fatherhood experiences were over the three generations and how it would stack up.

Imagine what my old grandfather would have said if someone told him the easiest way to get a date would be to swipe right.

Grandpa came from a generation where you had to introduce yourself to the parents before having the ­audacity to ask a young lady out.

I would have paid money to see his reaction at being chastised for presuming his date’s pronouns.

But what are some other differences between the generations?

A wedding proposal in grandpa’s day involved asking a few times just so the potential in-laws knew you were serious.

Asking for her hand:OK, so you get through the courtship and make the decision to enter holy matrimony.

Back in Grandpa’s day you had to ask a few times just so the potential in-laws knew you were serious.

Me? I had to go and prove my worth to the late Police Superintendent Fred Brame at Cumberland Golf Club and foolishly thought I could match him schooner for schooner.

I don’t remember the exact words I used, but Fred later congratulated me on being able to speak such fluent Swahili. These days, I’m told it’s done via a text message.

Childbirth: OK, now things are ­getting very very serious. There is no going back. Whilst my old man used Mum’s prolonged labour to get in a round of golf, there was no such leave pass afforded me.

In fact, I was tricked into attending what no man should ever endure. It actually made me fondly reminisce root canal surgery, and I wasn’t even the patient. At full time, she even expected me to cut the umbilical cord.

Thankfully, the doctor was watching and stopped me from removing a vital organ. These days, the fellas are being shamed into having the babies themselves.

Grandpa would go to the pub after work but would be home soon after 6pm closing - very different to today’s pub culture. Picture: iStock

Going to the pub: Grandpa would go after work every day and still be at the tea table, sober, immediately after 6pm closing. It was expected. A different story these days. Husbands are invited to submit a list of desired dates every January for the following calendar year. Conditions apply.

Using the phone:This one cracks me up. Grandpa was scared of it. Dad just ignored it and if he was forced to answer a call, the only words he used were “yep”, “nup” and “goodbye”. Whereas the current generation can’t even go to the crapper without it being surgically attached to their ear.

Unless, of course, it’s us parents ­trying to call, at which point the device all of a sudden loses battery power and it takes 72 hours to recharge.

David Elliott's Grandpa came from a generation where you had to introduce yourself to the parents before having the ­audacity to ask a young lady out. What would he think of online dating?

Meal time: Having a grandfather brought up during the Great Depression had ramifications for at least two more generations. Name me a Gen-Xer who wasn’t told that they must eat everything on their plate, regardless of how disgusting the serve of liver, spinach and cabbage tasted?

Can you imagine Grandpa sitting at home listening to modern mothers actually ASKING the current generation what they would like for dinner?

Say what? There’s a menu? And then if your golden child’s preferred dish is somehow not freshly stored in the Bulter’s Pantry, mum will leave work after her 10-hour shift and come home via David Jones Food Hall to prepare it. That’ll do me.

“Dropping in”: Remember when you just “dropped in” to see friends?

Before social media provided digital boundaries around your friendship group, we use to just drop into ­people’s houses unannounced.

Now I’m of two minds in this space.

Whilst I’ve been known to drop in to Ron’s place sans invitation on the occasional Saturday arvo, I do so accepting the risk of getting an eye full of him sprawled across his lounge in nothing but his Reg Grundy’s.

Mitchell Starc of Australia after taking five wickets during the third day of the third Test cricket match between West Indies and Australia. Picture: Randy Brooks / AFP

Watching a Five Day Test Match: That’s right kids. There was a time, a very special time when Dad would think nothing of watching a full five-day test match in front of the television from first ball to final stumps.

And it was entirely socially acceptable. Furthermore, if Ron dropped in unannounced then, so long as he had a six-pack of Resch’s, he would be ­afforded all the social niceties you’d expect if the Queen Consort herself had made a call.

Fashion: Can you imagine my ­family’s reaction if I mowed the lawns tomorrow dressed in nothing more than stubbies, a white singlet and terry towelling hat?

It’s worth doing just to test where the legal boundaries of elder abuse sit.

These days, you have to offer gender-neutral attire just to prune the roses. Progress you say? Who needs it!