There are many different kinds of surprises awaiting first time dads so we asked the amazing Life of Dad community, “What’s something that’s surprised you about fatherhood?”
Of course no one should be caught off guard by the parade of midnight feedings and sleepless nights after bringing home a new baby, but maybe the fact that you are somehow still able to function on just 2 hours of sleep IS something that surprised you.
Here are the best of the hundreds of responses we received from real dads on what surprised them most about fatherhood. Their answers may surprise you!
“Emotions. I’ve never really been a sensitive person. But now that I’m a father every father/son moment chokes me up. Even stupid toilet paper commercials!” – Matthew Spears
“They joyful frustration of having my sons follow me around, up my butt when I work on a vehicle…and then the joy of seeing them copy the things I do on their own power wheels.” – Mike Lancaster
“When the diaper package states “10-15 lbs.” it doesn’t REALLY hold that that much poo.” – Christopher Zourdos
“The fact that you actually can enjoy when someone pees on you, not metaphorically but literally.
ah, and burps like you.
and farts better than you, and you are damn proud of it!.
and gets looks from beautiful sexy women across the street who won’t notice you on any other day but think that a man walking with his baby is sexy as hell.” – Matan Fraiman
“The amazing magic tricks that my twin boys can do at only 8 months: they can drink 20 ml of milk, then throw up 100!” – Tom Havill
“That I could actually hold a baby. Prior to my son being born, I would tend to hold babies very awkwardly, almost like they were a bomb!” – Carl Kendrick
“My little girl’s tears out of nowhere, and how nothing else matters but making her smile again.” – Ross McClure
“I’m surprised that someone ate my chocolate and I’m not annoyed!” – Sameh Soliman
“I’m surprised at how much one child can mess up the back seat of your car.” – Steve Williams
“’Catching’ projectile vomit in your hands and not vomiting myself.” – Elvin Takeda
“That you enjoy whatever music the kid likes.
I actually look forward to their CDs!!!!
The insane amount of love for them that you never knew you had in you!!!” – Jayden Andrea (Yes! There’s so much great kid’s music out there, check out the OWTK Kid’s Music Monthly Podcast to discover more of it for free!)
“I found out I’m capable of new things, like being able to remain calm in a frightening situation, while simultaneously feeling complete panic and emotional distress.” – Brian Womack
and finally, Stephen Kennedy tells us humorously that he was surprised to discover…
“Where babies came from! Wow…that was a shocker!”
What has been the most surprising thing you’ve discovered about fatherhood? Keep the conversation going on Facebook!