Any of y’all’s kids watch bounce patrol. That dark haired lady has some knockers that bounce pretty damn good.
Sickness has spread in waves from the 4-year old to 2-year old to 4-month old. Hoo boy this is miserable.
Kids went with grandparents to outdoor world last week and they came back with Minecraft and paw patrol fishing poles because of course those exist
My almost 2 year old son knows how to use an ipad better than my 88 year old grandfather. It's the most adorable thing watching them together.
Damn. He should have listened to your wife the first time. *it’s a bad joke and I in no way condone child abuse
Stands in front of a swinging baseball bat, yep, he has his dad’s genetics! Spoiler hope he heals up soon and is in minimal pain
I like your nail polish. Srs-hope he's okay, I bet it smarts today. He'll probably get some mileage out of that eyebrow scar down the road.
Looking at first tball for (by time it starts) a 6 y/o and it’s 3 times a week with 2 practices +1 game. Is that nuts? I feel like I didn’t play that often but maybe I did? Was expecting twice a week but what do I know.
Around here at least the twice a week TBall is for the group younger than 6, and that seems right for 6. IIRC, 6/7 was coach pitch, 8 was half coach pitch half kid pitch, 9 was kid pitch and 9/ten started travel ball.
Just remembered, I think under 5 - tball 5/6 - coach pitch 7/8 - first half coach pitch, second half kid pitch 9/10- all kid pitch, travel ball really first available feel like once we hit coach pitch practice 2x, game 1x but it was all at coach’s discretion
My little boys ear drum ruptured yesterday after having the flu for a week. Ready to get back to normal.
same same. anyone have favorite books that they read that helped them as a dad? Not necessarily like "what to expect" kind of "parent-help" books, but more deep reflection on what it means to be a parent etc.
I’m sorry man. Lil man had the flu last week and I don’t know what wrong with me rn. My fucking ear hurt so bad last night from the pressure I thought it was gonna bust. Watched some YT videos to release pressure which helped but I sucked bad as an adult I can’t imagine what he went through.
Honestly no and not to sound dramatic, but I felt that no matter what we read we still got home put him on the table in his car carrier and looked at each other and said “What the fuck do we do now?” I know you were asking more about the philosophical side but you’ll figure it out man. Don’t over think it, do your best, try to raise a thoughtful caring individual, and you’ll do fine. Also give yourself some grace because you’re gonna screw up a lot, it’s part of the game, but as long as you keep trying you’ll do good.
My daughter loves me more than my wife honestly to say. The reason is I absolutely say yes to her when she asked me to play or go outside in any form or fashion. My wife won’t put down her phone and her idea of spending time with my daughter is her being on an iPad and my wife being on her phone sitting around. Best thing I can recommend is always say yes. Always be goofy and childish. Learn to absolutely surrender what’s convenient for you and realize that your child will grow up so quick. Interact with them all the time in stupid and fun ways. And smile and laugh a lot. You want to be a good dad. Be not just there but emotionally present as much as you possibly can.
I was just thinking this same thought and it’s one thing I’ve seen as the boys have all gotten older. You can tell where the parents were all in it with them and where they were just present. Believe me when I say I’ve fucked this parenting thing up more ways than I thought possible, but I’ve also gotten a few things right. It’s easy to make excuses to not do things but if you want to be there for them it’s a sacrifice. I think I’ve had to take a red eye more than the times I can count on one hand to catch a donuts with dad, or a field trip chaperone that I probably looked out of my mind with bloodshot eyes from the flight, but you never get those times back and your kids never forget them.
True. You want to be a good parent. Get off your ass, drink a cup of coffee and be stupid and present with your children.
Being a good parent is by far the hardest thing you’ll ever do. It’s everyday, all day. You don’t have to be “on” 24x7, but you do have to be present and available. It’s a lot of fun, a lot of frustration, and a lot of work. If I can do it then anyone can.
Agreed. I wake up a 4:30 every morning to have an hour and half to walk the dog and spend time with myself. When my kids wake up at 6 my mindset shifts to sacrifice my needs and wants for them.
I appreciate that, thanks. I like to read a lot, so i want to use it as an opportunity to be more contemplative so that I maintain that aspect of things even when baby shows up and life gets busy
One of the best things about my job is that I can pretty much be at 99% of activities little man has at school, etc. Covid cut a bunch. But I've gotten to be a Watch D.O.G.S., a field trip chaperone, haven't missed a field day or a day when parents get to have lunch at school, etc. It's funny cause I'm typically the only dad at most of this stuff. All his little friends know me and I try to be a good influence to them. Even got to play the cool guy who helps make another kid feel special when they were crying because he didn't have a parent there to eat lunch with by going out of my way to show him he got to sit with me All the moms love me too
9 month sleep regression is for the birds. She goes down around 8-830, sleeps till 11, then will not go back to sleep until midnight+ can clearly see she’s tired, but she just wants to talk and move around.
From the limited amount I’ve seen, it seems like a lot of parenting books are 10% useful info and 90% fluff anecdotes. Of that useful info, most of it feels like common sense. One author that I did find useful is Armin A. Brott. I used The Expectant Father and The New Father as useful “check-ins” because it’s structured in terms of developmental milestones. So much of the pregnancy process is focused on the mother/child and often times the father feels like they’re just kinda along for the ride, these books helped me keep tabs a bit on what’s going on with my kid and wife. And as others have said, there isn’t a magic answer to being a good parent. It’s not a math test that you can prepare to ace, and each kid needs something different from different people. My best advice is prepare yourself to be available to your kid/wife, be patient, reflect on what things your parents fucked up on, and regularly reflect on your actions. And don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re not instantly bonding with the kid when born. It’s completely natural and it will come with time, usually.
I found most "Dad" books to be pretty terrible. Happiest Baby on the Block and Mom's on Call will be better and more informative reads than any specialized Dad book. JMO baby stage is the most complicated. the rest is all instinct. you'll do fine. most folks that give a shit do.
I think I get more football throws in a day than a backup college QB. My son turned 7 earlier this month and he said he wanted a new football for his birthday. So of course he got 4 of them from various people. Now every day or night, we play catch either in our basement or our backyard. I probably get 30-45 minutes of catch in every day for the last 3 weeks.
Kids are so damn different too, even siblings can be wildly different, it's amazing to see how nature does play a big role in that as opposed to it being what I thought was a lot more taught before my wife gave birth. What everyone said earlier about always spending time with your kid is spot on. It's so exhausting for me, my wife and I are introverted and like to have our time to decompress, somehow our daughter is like 10x more social than either of us were at 5 years old so she is ALWAYS on and wants to play. There are times where I have to put my foot down because I'm not a very fun dad and am irritable, but there are times where I am being lazy and I'll feel like shit later for not being a super active parent roughhousing for the tenth time in the day.
Also when your kid is old enough to do extracurriculars even if it's not super team building, as long as they like them, that's a very very easy win as a parent where you get to watch them have fun and aren't the ones facilitating it. Things like tumbling gymnastics and kids ballet or dance classes for our daughter.
You might be onto something. But also because I root for a state school, I started a successful animal husbandry business in 4H so raising unruly animals is my thing!
At what age did everyone move their kid out of their room? Our first son was 13 months, second was 11 months. Our third’s (daughter) sleep started so promising but has totally gone to shit within the past month. We’re considering moving her out of our room for our sanity (she is 4.5 months).
Kid is watching Blippi on his tablet while I’m reading about how to be a good dad here. Haven’t published my book yet, but it will include a chapter on not doing that