Congratulations, new dads! You've done it! You've survived year one of fatherhood. Turn to your nearest peer and give them a well deserved high five for your efforts.
Now that your baby's officially a year old, it's only appropriate that you celebrate with a birthday party. Little did you know that your baby's first birthday isn't about them at all...it's a celebration that you and your partner survived year one!
That's right, you made it through an entire year. That equates to roughly 12,000 dirty diapers, countless hours of lost sleep, and unnamed number of gray hairs. But, in the end, it was well worth it. Not only did this labor of love lead to a happy healthy baby, but you've grown mentally. Far beyond what you thought you were ever capable of.
With an entire year behind you, you've probably got quite a lot of knowledge and wisdom that you'd like to impart on other dads or dasd-to-be, right? One dad did just that.
After his first year of fatherhood, co-founder of DaddyMindTricks.com Pete Cataldo, shared his top 5 most important thoughts regarding year one. Check out what this dad had to say and se if you can relate to his thoughts on the first year of fatherhood, dads!
1. Trial and error (...and error and error)
"One of the very first rude awakenings as a parent is when they pack you up and send you home from the hospital after just two to three days with this newborn baby that is 100 percent dependent on you. And they arm Mommy and Daddy with… nothing," pens Cataldo.
One of the interesting things about fatherhood in ear one is the fact that, for the most part, you really have no idea what to expect. There's no instruction manual or universal, one size fits all solution to your problems and concerns. You just have to roll up your sleeves and take life by the horns. There'll be a lot of trial and error (and error and error) but you'll learn and you'll only get better as a parent.
2. It can be a scary, lonely world
"Sometimes in the first few weeks of parenthood, when we are left to our random thoughts in the middle of another late-night feeding for our newborn, it gets lonely. It gets scary," says Cataldo.
Sure, you have your partner around to help shoulder the load of this new concept called parenthood. But, when it's just you checking up on your crying newborn at 4AM, you can feel as though you're the only person on the planet. Even though you're holding someone in your arms, and your partner lie in her bed in the next room, you feel lonely--scared even. Well, that's okay.
"If we aren’t terrified about some of the things we need to do as we learn how to be a parent, we aren’t parenting well enough," claims Cataldo.
Find out what other thoughts new dads have when it comes to year one of fatherhood! Visit the next page for more!
3. Don't listen to Google
"According to the world wide web of information and parental milestones, by the first year of birth, my daughter should be speaking three or four languages fluently, she should be making her voice heard in the international philanthropic community and she should be physically gifted enough to compete in American Ninja Warrior," Cataldo comically quips.
Kids develop at different rates, and more importantly they do it in their own unique way. Google may be able to do a lot of cool things, but parenting is not one of those things. Don't let the wide variety of netizens and their wild suggestions via Google chat rooms or Reddit pages confuse you.
4. Establish a support system
"Family. Friends. The next door neighbor. There’s a reason why they say it takes a village. Find some people to lean on from time to time when the going gets a little tougher than expected,"Cataldo writes.
There's no reason why anyone should raise a kid on their own. Having someone to lean on, gain insight from, or just depend on from time to time is an absolute necessity. Parenting isn't easy, and new dads will need all the help they can get.
5. Sometimes, being a dad sucks
"Most of the time in the opening few days of fatherhood, it kinda sucks more than it’s awesome. It makes sense. You’ve got this brand new person that is monopolizing your entire being and this brand new member of the family doesn’t contribute much in terms of personality. On top of that, you’ve never done this before so you’re in your own head about whether what you’re doing is the right thing, or if burping her upside down will break the baby," he writes.
Of course, the positives outweigh the negatives, but there will be times when the going gets rough and you'll feel a bit discouraged. But, nothing worth having goes without a few trials and tribulations right? Fatherhood is going to be tough and challenge you, thus it'll suck from time to time, but the result is so magnificent you'll be grateful you trudged through the harder times.
"It’s a getting-to-know-you phase of life that we all go through in the first few days of parenting and sometimes it sucks. It’s okay to say that is sucks," Cataldo adds.
[H/T] The Huffington Post
READ: This hilarious dad shows us how he puts his baby to sleep
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