I’ve gained some extra weight since my wife got pregnant, gave birth, and makes me do all the cooking. I enjoy food, but never to the extent that made me believe I would gain 15 pounds during this pregnancy. Luckily I came across a great blog (see Being Daddy Links) by averagechildhood about weight gain for mamas. I commented about my weight gain and was informed that a study has been done that shows men go through weight gain during pregnancy much like women do. Her responses, and other responses to my comment, made me feel a whole lot better about what I know call my “Daddy Fat.”
What I learned today about being a father:
Mama break was in full gear yesterday afternoon when I got home from work. It was an atypically long day for me, and when I got home Jackie was sitting on the couch eating dinner from Noodles & Company, but she didn’t get me any.
“I didn’t get you any.”
I didn’t flinch at the realization, because she didn’t expect me home for dinner. So I took the dog, Archie, on a fast-food adventure so she could stick her nose out the window and let her shaggy dog-mane flip-flop in the hurried wind.
Archie, you see, was our first baby. Jackie picked her up just over three years ago. We nursed her through worms, pneumonia, and all sorts of other ailments that a small, less than 2 lb baby dog may not have gotten through without the loving care of a parent or parents.
The way Jackie treated Archie was a sign of her parenting style, always in your face and over protective, teaching, guiding, loving, and playful. She adored Archie, and just like with Griffin Archie and I really didn’t have a chance to get to know each other until mama was done making her mark on the dog. I don’t want to compare us buying a dog to mama giving birth, but when I get home from missing my family all day I include little Archie in that phrase, and Jackie likes to say that she’s his big sister.
What I think I know:
I wasn’t fond of the idea of getting a dog, and to be completely honest Jackie went over my head and purchased Archie without my knowledge. It was early on in our relationship, and though it took me some time to get over it (the added responsibility, the costs, the health concerns, etc.) each and every day I am glad to come home to Archie just as much as I am to Jackie and Griffin. Archie and I have a strange bond, one I didn’t notice until the other day when I came home from work and no one was home. I called mama who didn’t answer, and searched the small two-bed for Archie (sometimes she doesn’t rush the door right away, just to make sure you’re really home). When she wasn’t around I sat down hard on the couch, alone, and missed my family even more than usual.
Yesterday’s ride was a great ride for Archie and I. We get to go on walks and I still let her lay on my lap when we watch TV, but I’ve noticed lately how she treats Jackie differently, how Archie lays in her bed instead of on the couch when Jackie, Grif and I are all hanging out on the couch. How in the morning Archie doesn’t come shooting out from underneath the covers when Jackie calls her, and how hesitant Archie has become to really come near mama and show her how much she loves her.
Griffin’s birth has been hard on Archie, the once dominant figure in the household has now taken a back seat to Grif, who needs mama’s full attention. Archie doesn’t eat as much, doesn’t wag her tail as much, and barks more often than is usual. On our car ride, though, I realized that everyone, especially our closest pets, needs a little Babyface Time, too.
And after our ride to get a sandwich I let her run around the front yard, dig in the dirt box behind the apartment, and chase some squirrels. We went upstairs exhausted, me from a long day at work and her from a few extra minutes of being outside. We grabbed the little guy from mama, whom had a rough day, and told her to take the next three hours off. Grif, Archie and me, well, we took a nap on my favorite chair, changed some diapers while dancing to Griffin’s noise maker, me singing a made-up song and Archie barking along, and hung out until it was time to go to bed.
Sometimes being daddy is knowing when to give that added attention to the ones who are not getting it, letting mama take some time off for herself, and letting the dog in all of us run around for just a few extra minutes longer.
I feel like I’m starting from scratch again! You wouldn’t have guessed that Jackie gave birth over a month ago because it feels like it’s happening all over again. The constant complaining, the shouting at the Playstation 3 for cutting out on shows, the weeps and sobs when that commercial about the orphaned dogs comes on TV, and that’s just me!
Seriously though, Jackie is going through some new emotions and changes in her attitude that I just don’t get. Griffin is feeling it too, following right along with mamas reactions towards how daddy makes a bottle, how daddy folds baby’s clothes, and how daddy can’t seem to utter a word in when mama’s yelling at everything and anything. I’ve always liked rollercoasters, no, loved rollercoasters, but this is the bumpiest, loopiest, most upside-down ride I’ve ever been on! (Speaking of rollercoasters I suggest Six Flags in the Chicago land area, epic rides)
What I learned today about being a father:
It’s been nearly four days since my last post, and I know what you’re thinking, “Why so lazy daddy?” I promise when I say I’m motivated, obligated, and doing my best to emancipate myself from my wife to keep up on this blog. I am trying to convey this in the best way possible, but over the last four days my wife and sister (who is in from out-of-town) planned a Cinco De Mayo party without telling me; one that I had to take off early from work to prepare for. My sister was supposed to help me cook, Jackie run errands and prep our small two-bed for company, while I did all the grocery shopping, meal and bar preparation. Though I wasn’t keen on the idea of making food I for twenty in our little kitchen, at 6AM I had it in my mind that with all the help from the other two this wouldn’t be an issue.
Daddies, never make plans that something won’t go wrong.
My sister ended up lame with a hurt back, one that would end up making sending us to a hospital and making her bed ridden for the remainder of her stay in town, at a hotel room, with my parents coming into town. Jackie called grandma over to help clean the apartment which turned into grandma and mama sitting on the couch watching Grey’s goo-gooing and ga-gaing over baby. Daddy went to work until 11AM, then to the store to buy the goods, then home and unloaded and went straight to work prepping, baking, and cooking for the next 7 hours. It was a whirlwind of on-goings and what-the-heck-am-I-doing dessert making, but it all worked out in the end.
And that’s the thing, Jackie, completely ignoring my pleas for help, just kept saying, “B, it will all work out in the end. Everything will be great.” Smiling wide, looking at baby.
What I think I know:
Despite the problems with my sister and Jackie’s emotional ups and downs, all in all it was a great weekend. My parents were able to meet their grandson for the first time, and though they had to take turns, one watching my sister, one at the two-bed holding Griffin, they couldn’t have asked for a better, more complete weekend.
I didn’t get it, to be honest. I talked it over with my parents Sunday night, wondering with the serious back issue my sister faced (and I mean serious-serious, she couldn’t walk, stand up, move from her laying position, or get to the bathroom in time because of the pain) and the long road they took to get here why they thought it was such a great weekend? It was damp and rained off-and-on all weekend, we didn’t even get a chance to go out for dinner or lunch or hang out as a family. Moms (I call her moms, can’t really explain why) and dad chuckled, and they agreed that it was great because they got the chance to not only be fun, loving grandparents, but they got to be parents again.
The art of being a parent never really goes away. My parents house has been empty for over five years, and though the enjoy us staying over when we come into town they never, ever have to take care of us. This weekend moms and dad went to work on my sister, and I, older brother and all, got a chance to give good brotherly help as well.
As everything changes, some things never do. My parents, the guardian of their children, went into protection/take care of mode without hesitation. They relished this role, the role of parent, husband and wife taking care of their little girl. It was amazing, perfect even, just watching them do what they do best hoping that in the coming years I can be the best daddy I can be.
Once the smoke cleared, the grandparents gone and my sister back home, I sat with Jackie and listened to her complain about our dinner, yell at her phone, scold the dog, and tell me how need to stop telling people stories because it takes me too long to get to the point. The point is, and I’m sorry it took this long, she gave me a kiss, thanked me for watching Grey’s with her, let me hold baby and got me ice cream, just because.
Being daddy it sometimes feels like we are starting over again and again, but it all works out in the end.
I take pride in my work ethic, working hard and going above and beyond to do what’s best for my family and my company. There has never been a time in my life where anyone would have found me asleep on the job. I’ve worked in many different environments since I was ten years old, work days that lasted over 15 hours, and have somehow managed to put in the extra time to keep up with my personal activities and entertain Jackie’s very often at times warped idea of what constitute as “doing something fun.”
All that changes in an instant, and on a short elevator ride from the basement of my office building to the third floor I became a victim the second worst kind of enemy behind time, sleep.
What I learned today about being a father:
When the elevator reached the 8th floor a co-worker of mine tapped me on the shoulder. “You OK?” I was startled and nearly buckled, leaning into the corner of the elevator I had shut my eyes for what I thought was just a second, but on the way up I had dozed, just like that.
He smiled widely and, aware of our new baby, simply said “You’ll get used to it.”
Please be aware, you’ll never get used to falling asleep in an elevator. I mean seriously, it’s a metal box with no soft edges. The mirrored plates that line the inner workings of most elevators are usually cold, sticky to the touch. Has anyone else ever noticed the unnatural film that is invisible to the naked eye that builds up inside elevators? The sides of my hair changed drastically from said film, sticking out in ways I never thought possible. A quick trip to the bathroom and a few finger-fulls of water would do nothing to contain the new bend that had formed. And though it was only a few bunches of hair, by the looks of me it had become obvious to myself (and everyone else in the office) that being daddy has changed me.
What I think I know:
To make it through the day I was extra caffeinated and made a point to walk around for at least 20 minutes of every hour. It was the longest day of my life, and my coworkers all had something to say about how pale I looked, how my the redness of my eyes was out of control, and there were only a few pokes of fun about my stint of sleeping in the elevator (like all great work stories, mine made its way through office email).
Though it was tough to get through the work day, it was much easier when I got home. At home it’s go-go-go, and being daddy means that I have to be prepared to take Griffin out of mama’s hands so she can take care of her needs, make dinner while baby feeds and mama pumps, rock child when he’s fussy, change pants when it is needed, and by all means never, ever, forget to take out the garbage. Being daddy is about resilience, fighting off being tired and finding the extra energy throughout the day to make things happen. Today, when I got home, Jackie could tell I was tired, worn out, beat up from the inside and that I needed some time, just a few minutes, to rest my body…And then she went all in about the dealings of her day and I can tell you this much, no matter how hard the day is at work, no matter how tired I think I am, it’s nothing compared to being mommy.
Griffin is growing at a staggering rate and our ration of diapers is running long on the sizes that don’t fit him. We were warned, but we’ve been asking people to bring us things we need when they come to visit, such as diapers, baby wipes, formula, sanity, you know, the everyday things that mamas and daddies need to make sure their baby is taken care of and that they don’t forget about each other in the process. Now I’ve got a corner full of newborn diapers that don’t fit and a drawer full of newborn/0-3 month old onesies that mama has thrown on the floor to make room for the 3-6 month old clothes…what a mess.
What I learned today about being a father:
Can you believe it’s been four weeks since Griffin was born, I started this blog, and my hair has started to turn colors other than the nice, dark auburn color I’ve grown to know so well? In the last 28 days so many great things have happened, but now a reality of sorts is setting in…Change is upon us!
Jackie and I thought we could plan for this, but we were totally wrong. Our diagram of baby growing and parenting was thrown out the window 27 days ago, and we’ve been trying to pick up the pieces ever since. I’ve learned that she is the decider, when she makes a move I just go with it. When she says to do something that doesn’t make sense I question it every time on accident, not on purpose, trying to gain a better understanding of reason, and she motions with many different contortions of her body and face of how ridiculous my inquisitions are.
What it’s come down to is this; when Jackie makes a mess I clean it up.
What I think I know:
“I didn’t make the mess on purpose, it’s for the baby!”
Sooner or later you will hear this line, or one very similar to it, that describes mama’s reasoning for whatever it is she is doing that daddy doesn’t quite get. Being daddy has taught me to look past my wife’s simple indiscretions, keep my mouth shut and my head down (to see what’s on the floor that’s not supposed to be there) and never, never ask a question in the form of a statement.
Our partnership is more than that, however. It’s being on the same page, turning corners and expecting that the other will be there. I don’t mind doing the heavy lifting because that’s what I’m good at. Mama is good at reacting to the changes of baby’s needs, knowing when to create space (even when it is by tossing clothes on the floor, in the crib, or out the car window; it was an accident) and having the magic touch that calms babies emotions after spending too much time in daddies hands.
Being daddy takes a lot of understanding and reacting at a moments notice. No amount of preparation will prepare you for the changes that are being thrown your way, for the odd times when mama uses baby as a reason for doing what she does, or for the calming, loving effect your little child will have on you. It sounds cliché, I get it, but within the cliché is much truth. Our children are a miracle, a miracle created by the actions of individuals, which makes us pretty cool too. Sometimes the heavy lifting is reminding yourself about that, telling your partner how awesome of a job they did, and knowing that every time you ever said to yourself that you wanted to make a difference in a person’s life that you are.
I know there’s more to this story that I haven’t learned, but I’m keeping my eyes open and my ears alert to all the learning that hasn’t been described in detail for me. Mama is making sure of that too. I mean, just last night she taught me how pack old clothes into plastic containers and mark them for when we have our next child…”You want another one?”
Sometimes being daddy is questioning mama’s sanity…sometimes.
Being Daddy Tip of the Week:
Do everything you can to listen to instruction from you partner. Mama’s do not like to have to explain themselves twice…and remember that whatever she is asking you to do is “for the baby.” So rub her feet, and stop asking questions.
I can’t dance, and I’ll be the first to admit it. Tonight, after 23 days of being latched at the nip, mama decided to take some time for herself and hand daddy the reigns to child. She was reluctant, stalled with excuses like reading him a book, pumping, maybe doing a basket of laundry (maybe), but in the end I gave her my certificate of reassurance that I wouldn’t burn the house down (see Stupid Things Daddy Does II) and I wouldn’t submit Griffin to any of my crazy daddy ideas that I have floating around in my head (not yet, at least).
Once the door closed behind her Griffin pooped, I changed him, plugged in the iPhone to the iDock and turned it up.
And we danced.
What I learned today about being a father:
This was the moment I didn’t know if I was ready for. I mean, I’ve thought about for 23 days, thought about the time when he and I would be alone and how I would handle all the things that happen that mama usually takes care of. Jackie, bless her heart, went over all the precautionary details if he was fussy, how I could tell if he needed to be changed, where the bottles were and how much to feed him (not too much, though, when she gets home she wants to breast feed!). The Nuk came in handy, I fought off serving him bottle as long as I could, and played and danced until daddy ran out of gas.
Kids are tough and desire a lot of attention, especially now. In two hours I realized what mamas put up with for a whole day. I was inspired, however, by the music of O.A.R., Grasshopper Takeover (a band from my hometown who didn’t sell many records but made some beautiful music), Phoenix, The Head and The Heart and Dave Mathews Band. When I didn’t think I could keep him entertained much longer I just did what I thought I had to do, I turned the music up!
What I think I know:
If the neighbors were looking in our windows they would have seen a wiley young man in his early 20’s (days, that is) in his diapers and his aging daddy in his underwear dancing the night away. It was majestic, our flow, our glide across the hardwood floors, the way his legs struggled about without notion or rhythm. In the end, it was the greatest time of both our lives.
I lulled him to sleep while singing along to Led Zeppelin, “Hey Hey What Can I Do…”, and held him in my arms until mama got home. He was half asleep, she was sweaty and lovely, beautiful mama. Right then and there I knew that I was lucky, because I knew that I had more and more dancing to look forward to.
When Jackie hands Griffin over to me after he falls asleep and she goes off to take care of some of her mama duties like breast feed, feed herself, bathe, study, search the internet endlessly for information on what she might think is wrong with him, I secretly hope that he wakes up in my arms, opens his eyes, and sees me first.
What I learned today about being a father:
I could sit for hours with my little guy and watch his little chest move up and down as he breathes in his sleep. I get goo-goo when he is dreaming, and then suddenly his little arms shoot up and over his head and then they slowly descend back down by his sides, his hands resting peacefully on his bulging belly. He’s growing, I can tell and the doctor said so and when I see his now pudgy fingers I waive Jackie over quietly just to point them out. “Here here here, you’ve got to see these things.(!)” She runs over on tip-toes and looks at what I’m holding up, his fingers gripping my pinky, and shakes her head at me.
“Can you believe that little wonder was in my belly?”
She says it with inspiration, amazement, awe, and pats her tummy and goes back to doing whatever mamas do. I grin daddy proud, and slowly one eye pops open, Griffin’s right eye, and his pupil moves around to see what’s going on. He doesn’t open his left eye, not yet at least, but it’s at this point, when he first wakes up, that he is always smiling, and it’s daddy’s turn for babyface time.
What I think I know:
Children are a wonder, and it’s amazing what women have to go through to get them here. I wanted to share that moment today because it was a first for me to experience what Jackie calls ‘Babyface Time.’ I have had the luxury of witnessing many handfuls of time when she has woken him from his sleep, but it was a first for it actually happening to me. He doesn’t like me as much, I can tell by the scowls and way his eyes crease and his brow raises and lowers, but in that moment I feel like I get it, whatever it is.
I started writing a long time ago on accident, just pros and anecdotes about my life and my thoughts and I moved on to other things like fiction and screenplays (all for personal use of course) and in everything I do I write about the it in life that defines us. I don’t know what it is, but I feel like I’ve been searching for it, researching it through the various religions and texts and stories and movies for a long, long time. I’ve spent so much of my life breaking down and discussing with people the in’s and out’s of destiny and nature, the ideals of philosophers, theologians, naturalists and my dog Archie, that I failed at the time to realize one thing; I’ve never done anything as significant before as being daddy.
I could talk all I want to about life but never really know anything about it until I was a part in creating it. Babyface time, looking into Griffin’s eyes and thinking about all the world that I have to offer him, made it pretty clear, but I don’t know how to explain it other than with the moment when he opened his one eye, his right eye, and he looked right into me and smiled.
And like so many others before her I took an hour of Jackie’s time trying to explain to her the feelings and the emotions and the clarity involved in the simple look that Griffin exposed me to listened with as much might as she could before she readily put my insights and pontificating into simple terms that being daddy made me understand, “He probably just shat in his pants.”
As usual, she was correct.
Mommy took Griffin to work to show him off tonight and I thought this would be a great opportunity for me dazzle her with my culinary expertise. No simple mac and cheese or pasta Primavera, no, not for my wife! I prepped the kitchen utensils and cleaned off the countertops and took aim at her favorite dish; Swanson‘s canned chicken chunks mixed with Philadelphia Cream Cheese and Pizza cheese wrapped in a Pillsbury croissant roll with broccoli rice and home-made egg rolls. Oh, it was to be stupendous! Alas, however, my sister Skyped me! And while in Skype my mind must have wandered, for croissants began to burst and flake than rice got overcooked…but in the end, it was those dang egg rolls that got the best of me. Home made (not by me, by a co-worker who makes them delicious) and ready to fry in oil over the stove top preheated to high. I pulled five rolls from freezer and a sixth (just in case), and dropped them into the high heat and nearly set the kitchen on fire!
What I learned today about being a father:
If Griffin could understand what I just did, he’d laugh. Mama didn’t find it so funny though. Our cramped two-bedroom smells of burnt…something? I can’t place it really. It just smells like smoke. Everything smells like smoke.
It took less than five seconds for our place to be engulfed in the fumes and smoke, 10 seconds for our fire alarm to go off, 12 for the one in the hallway outside our door. I pulled the oil off the flame, but smoke poured over the sides, the oil popped, and the carbon filled my lungs. I was coughing with such force that I dropped the frying oil, with egg rolls, into the sink. More smoke, more popping, skin getting burnt from the drops of popping oil into the air, and then the oven timer goes off…Let me just end right here, what a mess.
What I think I know:
I am no chef, and I’ve never claimed to be one. I tried to do something nice for mama because she was trying so hard to be mama and take care of obligations that she had at work which she couldn’t hand over to some one else. I thought it’d be sweet, thoughtful, the husbandry thing to do.
I called her to warn her not to bring Griffin home for a few hours. It was just too smoky, my eyes still burn and my lungs hurt and I didn’t want to put them through that. I opened all the windows (Wisconsin in April!) and let the smoke take it’s course. Four hours later, four hours, Jackie knocked on the door and I let her in.
“It still smells in here.” She gave me a kiss and handed me dinner, a McDonald’s bag with the french fries mostly eaten. Griffin made a face, and we sat down at the table to eat my wife’s second favorite meal and laughed our heads off.
These are the days we don’t forget, one of the stories we’ll share with Griffin when he makes a mistake or is feeling bad about not being good at something. And if I know Jackie as well as I think I do I know we’ll be laughing our heads off then, too.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Looking at this question now, I wonder if any of us really had a chance to answer it? I’m starting to hear it already, from friends and family alike, how child looks like this and that and how adament my wife is about him becoming a swimmer. My lovely wife, she’s a fiesty one, and she gets pretty competitive when it comes to playing board games, running a 10K, working out at the gym, her education, her accolades, and now our baby boy. Fathers, sure! That’s who I hear it from the most! Guys want to know if I’m going to breed my son to play basketball (as I was pretty good once upon a time) or baseball (that too) or soccer (yep) or if I’m going to push him to be writer (still working on that) or a magician (I was terrible), but what I tell them is he’ll decide exactly what he’s going to be…Unless my wife has her way.
What I learned today about being a father:
Kids don’t have choices, they have options. Jackie and I talk about what our expectations are for our child, and I firmly believe that you need them, but as I’m putting our list together I start to wonder if our expectations are too demanding. Not demanding in that they are too much (though they most likely are) but demanding as in how will are boy now whathewants out of life?
Parents are driven to create success situations for our children and to teach them all that we can. I know a few things about sports and could teach child about the sports I grew up to know best, but I couldn’t teach him anything about what I don’t know. I want to be able to open him up to his own experiences, let him make choices based on his interests and preferences so he shapes his life. In my late teens I became pretty independent, made decisions good or bad and was held responsible. It was hard, but sometimes I think what made it harder was the fact that my parents tried to direct my lifes path. There was nothing wrong with their direction, but I created a fork when I was 16 and when my path began to pull away from the path they had begun to build it created immense friction in our relationship.
I look back on it all now and chuckle, knowing that my parents were doing what they thought was best for me and I know my wife and I will do what’s best for Griffin, but will we?
What I think I know:
There has to be a point in our children’s lives when we let them make choices, whether good or bad, so they can learn to take responsibility of their life. But when does that happen? Is there an age that we, as parents, have to let go of the strings, stop trying to build a road that they don’t want to travel down anymore and if so how do we know?
Being daddy doesn’t give me the answers to any of this, nor does my life experience. I know I’m better off letting Jackie talk about the future Griffin is going to have rather than deter her from being the best mama she is going to be. It was only three weeks ago that he joined the outside world, and everyday I watch him change from this incredible, tiny thing, into a small child. Soon he will be a boy and then a teenager and at some point he will become his own man, but I’m scared, even worried sometimes because I don’t want to push him into his future. In a snap, just like that, he will be his own person. Maybe an explorer or a writer, an actor, a scientist or star in his own podcast reality show, I don’t know, but whatever he’s going to be, it can wait. For now, I am enjoying the moment, him being him and me being daddy, and letting mama worry about teaching him how to swim (I was never good at that).
I just came across another compelling website, HowToBeADad.com. Like so many other fatherhood websites this isn’t a site that defines dads or dads to be. It’s a fun play on the musings of two different fathers and their livelyhoods and has some great articles to entertain and somewhat enlighten us.
But is this it for us daddies? In my research this is pretty typical of what I find, sites dedicated to being daddy for our entertainment only. Below is how they introduce their site:
“If you were looking for a website telling you how to be a dad… You didn’t find it. We aren’t experts in “dadology.” We aren’t even sure such a thing exists. We’re just here to tell you that being a parent sometimes means experiencing things without an authority, letting love and humor get you through. For those other times, we recommend a sturdy helmet.” – Charlie & Andy, The Dads
We are not looking for the answer or the authority on daddying, but for many of us we are looking for some advice that doesn’t hint just towards the funny. I know, I know, you might be saying, “why so blue?” I’m not down or out, just searching for information and trying to provide an alternative to what isn’t out there.
What I learned today about being a father:
HowToBeADad.com is funny and whimsical and has many great blurbs that I will gravitate back to. I like to joke around, and Jackie tends to my jokes with some laughter when necessary, but mostly hates my sarcasm and tells me to save my jokes for her father (because we get along really well and understand each others jokes, it’s a guy thing). But as for understanding how to be a dad, I fell we, dads, are all in this together and it has been proven time and time again, through avid internet research, the lack of daddy articles in any parenting/baby magazines, that we, dads, are like fish out of water when it comes to parenting.
What I think I know:
Women have a sixth sense when it comes to being mama that seems to be in direct correlation with the zero sense men have being daddy. Give a women a baby and she may look at him/her funny for a second, but then it all just works out. Motherhood is embedded in the back of their subconsciousness. Men, on the other hand, takes weeks, months, years and maybe a lifetime to figure out what being daddy is all about. There isn’t enough information out their for us, so we have to work together to at being daddy. I know we need some relief from our everyday contributions in the realms of parenthood, and I’m glad that I can find them with websites like howtobeadad.com. But I also know that we need to take ourselves and the lives of our children seriously.
I believe that being daddy represents an opportunity for all fathers to help mold a good life for our children and give them the tools and opportunities to be successful human beings, and that learning to be daddy has been a fun and challenging experience for me. We need to enjoy the experience, but referring to the experiences and challenges we face in a manner that doesn’t take parenthood seriously may not be the best approach to fatherhood that we can take.
Tip of the Week:
Being daddy is great, but know the difference between taking care of your child and watching your child grow up. My wife, bless her heart, got into the habit of asking, “Can you watch our son for a minute?” I nipped that in the but when I caught on to the trap she was setting for herself and me, and told her to ask me to take care of our son so that I could feel like the little things I could do mattered.
I can’t stand still, sit for a prolonged period of time, or sleep without humming, strumming or some type of swaying. I haven’t noticed the changes, but those around me have called me out on my inability to be still. It all has something to do with child. The side-to-side sway that relaxes him or the quick shake of a leg while sitting on the couch and holding him are
all now imbedded in my subconsciousness and I can’t stop myself from doing them even when he’s not around.
(mama break)
What I learned today about being a father:
Keeping up with daily posts has not been easy! Between the cleaning up after, making meals for, and creating a reassuring atmosphere for my wife (I love you honey!) and trying to care for child where does everyone find the time? The balancing act between being daddy and being daddy 101 and all my other hobbies is difficult. Because now, more than ever, people need me. Daddy’s old way of being isn’t necessarily obsolete, it’s just there is a new way of doing things.
What I think I know:
Learning to live differently, for someone else, began when I first moved in with my wife. My old life of freedom and independence, doing what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it, went out the door the moment we shared keys. It was hard then, but I got used to it, and thrived in it. Being daddy has created another new challenge, a new sway, if you will, on where life is going to take me. Mama still needs me, which is something that hasn’t changed, and noted every time I have to step away from the computer to give her a break (mama break: mamas term for when she needs something, instead of saying, “honey, can you do me a favor,” she now just yells, “mamas break.”, and I respond accordingly).
(mama break)
Being daddy I will learn my balance, but at the beginning we have to choose what’s most important to us. Writing this blog has helped me learn from my mistakes, understand better what mama and baby need, and reminds me that being daddy is the most rewarding person that I can be.
So I put it to you, anyone who may read this, how do you create balance in your life when being daddy or being mommy? Balancing a relationship, career, and personal time is tough; adding in a newborn makes it even tougher. What’s your sway like?
Oops, and mama needs another break. Until next time…
Being Daddy 101 