Dad-to-Dad Advice

I took a brief hiatus of my blog so that I could gear up for the upcoming baseball season, I’ve come to LOVE MLB Network and MLB.TV. (Go Rockies by the way) But here I am, with a bad cold and back to blogging.

The chipmunk is now about 4 months old and I’ve been able to learn a few things some of them funny and well others very serious.  Here is the list

1. You’ll wish your child would stay on formula forever… change a diaper once they start rice cereal and you’ll know what I mean, I’m not looking forward to once he starts babyfood.  There will be a blog about this coming up.
2. Always remember the diaper bag… happened to me once and it wasn’t a pretty sight even though he was going to the sitters and I was shopping for an hour.
3. Pack the diaper bag… yeah remember the wipes story?
4. Sleep… sleep when they sleep.  As hard as it may seem to do that because you want to do other things, just sleep.  You can still do work around the house when they are awake and still be playing with them.
5. Learn to do things one-handed… ask my wife, I have yet to master this skill.
6. Turn on the sports before you sit and feed the child… I learned this quickly when the Kathy Lee & Hoda show came on one morning while feeding the chipmunk.  I had to sit the child down mid-feeding so I could get the remote and turn on ESPN! The chipmunk didn’t like that.
7. Take pictures… these are the times that you’ll never get back and want back take plenty of pictures.
8. Take care of yourself… there is only one you! Mom will never be able to teach your son how to fish or play baseball.
9. Learn to be quick if you know what I mean! You never know when the baby will wake up!
10. You don’t always have to listen to the advice of others… sure I’m here handing out advice but just because it worked for me doesn’t mean it will work for you.

Being a rookie dad I know there will be a ton more advice I will hand out unsolicited to new dads/parents.  Some work for you some don’t.   Parenting isn’t the same from person to person, there are different styles.  I’m of the loose and free (insert “That’s what she said”) type so whatever the child wants he needs.  The baby knows themselves better then you do so don’t try and out guess them.  If something you tried isn’t working, it won’t work for the umptenth time you’ve tried it in a row.  Don’t get frustrated and just try something new.   See there I go again handing out more advice.