Dad's Know Best

The blog article below is one that I fealt was pretty important and although not too funny as I had promised with this blog, Still very interesting and important for Fathers, and Future Fathers. I hope you will excuse my lack of professional writing and humor in this post, I feel like these points given below are really important for myself, and they will no doubt have a huge impact on how I will raise my baby girl, It may be long, But.. It's a good read (I PROMISE) I haven't given much thought to what I would write and this is the topic sticking out most in my head right now, It doesn't have too much humor, but to me it was a Hell of a thought and I decided to share it.

This past Memorial Day Weekend, I was quite bored, Given the fact that I did NOT get a day off like the rest of the country, I spent time at work, reading, and B.S-ing online, by the time I got off work, my pregnant wife was just arriving at work for her last shift before our baby girl comes. I got home and wondered what I should do, Having not been home all day myself, she had already taken care of all the needed housework and sorting before she went to work leaving me without much to do. Sure, I could have turned on the TV, but I decided not to because as I've briefly blogged about earlier, There are better things I can be doing with my time.

I picked up one of my wife's many pregnancy and parenting magazines (Something that I usually choose to ignore because I figure I'll just learn how to be a parent along the way). At any rate, As I was reading and learning mostly about what MOM'S need to do to prepare for babies, I ran across an article titled "Father's Know Best" This peaked my intrest immediately and it brings forth a good point, I figure since most Dad's are probably in my boat and are not reading Pregnancy and Parenting magazines, I'll attempt to share in my own words what I found to be true from within this article.

1: Babies Cry... Crying is something that babies just do, I suppose it's their way of speaking, Who among us doesn't like to listen to ourselves talk a bit? Babies do too! Let them cry sometimes. Crying is natural, and although Mommy's may tend to think so, A crying baby doesn't mean she's doing a bad job. Diaper Boy/Girl will still love them as much in the morning.

2: Roll with it.... It's nearly impossible to actually tell what's going on inside a babies brain, and by the time you actually do, you'll have a new dilemma to deal with. Playing things by ear usually doesn't bother Men, But it most likely driving the woman in your life crazy! Help them remember that babies are stressful, and playing it by ear is an OK thing to do.

3: Babies don't always need the boob.... It becomes the mission of a father, or future father in my case, to learn the essential duties of a housewife and mother, such as how to feed, wrap, quiet and rock your baby to sleep. In time they'll prove essential as Mom needs a break and Dad becomes Mom.

4: Babies like things topsy turvy.... This one is my favorite, I have no doubts that my wife will be afraid that I'm going to "Break" our baby girl, However, In my experience, and according to this article, Babies (Who can easily support their own head's) will squeal with delight when they're being tossed in the air, swung between one's legs, or held upside down, Just be sure to grasp them by their torso, NOT the arms.

5: Babies like a mess.... Babies love to make messes, It actually encourages their stimulation, and learning, Allow them to make messes, (And to the men) offer to clean up afterwards, Encourage the mothers to get down and make messes together, Why Not.. Right?

6: Babies will survive another person's care.... Dad's can generally leave a baby in someone else's care and know that the baby will be fine, this task is never as easy for mothers, Its important for Dad to help Mom understand this, Be there with her for as many of these "Firsts" as possible, I.E. Day Care, Babysitter Etc.

7: Babies don't do things like the book.... Like in my own home, "How To Manuals" of all kinds are piling up on the coffee table, I haven't even looked at more than a few paragraphs in any of them up until recently, No doubt they'll make great references. However, As the article I was reading points out, also as I think, Its important to just follow your heart, Dad's need to be the half of this "Team" that sticks to the basics, Feed, Burp, Change, Sooth, Rock, Rinse, and Repeat.

8: You Needn't become your parents.... My parents did a great job raising me, I was the first, and I dare say "Experimental" child, I love my parents and praise them for the job they did, However I will certainly do some things different for my children, Mom's are the same way, They need encouragement that they also won't make the same "Mistakes" their parent's did. Talk about the good things you are doing together.

That's about it, Again, I apologize for the lack of humor, I read this article this weekend, and it has stuck with me all weekend at the forefront of my thoughts so I figured, What the hell, I'd blog about it.

Reference: "Fathers Know Best" -Chris Napolitano, Fit Pregnancy's Mom & Baby Magazine Summer 2009