You can read all the pregnancy books at the store and attend all the prenatal classes offered locally but there’s so much no one will tell you about becoming a dad. Dad bloggers get a lot closer to the truth and we at Life of Dad try hard to shine a light in every nook and cranny of fatherhood to help new and expecting dads get ready for what will, and what might, lie ahead, but we thought it would be enlightening to ask the Life of Dad community on Facebook to tell us “something important no one told you about being a dad?” Here’s just a sampling of the great responses:
David Radonic: That as a single dad I am capable of both being maternal and paternal at the same time.
James Stevens: My dad passed away a year after I became a dad. 5 years, 8 months, and 9 days later, I would give anything to have him back. I need his advice daily. No one told me that being a dad is so much more challenging without guidance from your own dad.
Miguel Fernandez: That you’d need to dig down deeper than ever before to release strength you never knew you had.
Graham Crawford:
1) If needed you would do literally anything for them.
2) Even if that means sucking mucus from their 5 week old nose at 3am because they can’t breathe properly.
3) And that baby mucus tastes no better than you imagined….
4) its almost 3am.
Daniel Millward: How you can be the manliest bloke in the world, but your daughter makes you an emotional wreck at times.
Christopher J. Micik: That your sacrifices won’t come with a trophy, or a ribbon, or even many times a “thank you.” In fact, they’ll go completely unnoticed by others because it’s expected. You have to be strong enough to endure the challenges. And the only thing you’ll have is the knowledge, satisfaction, and security that you have done what’s right and what’s best for your family.
Michael Huff: Suggestions and criticisms will come from all directions, but at the end of the day, you know what’s best for your kid.
Brander Palomarez: How hard it is to see your babies grow up it kills me every time I look at my son knowing he isn’t that baby I first saw.
Joe Buczynski: That the system is sexist.
Patrick Robert Nicholls: The amount of nurturing that’s required even as they become older and more independent.
Judd Dredd: That being a dad means onion chopping ninjas are never far away.
What’s something important you’ve discovered since becoming a dad that no book or class prepared you for? Share your story with us on Facebook.
*Flickr photo by The U.S. Army, used under Creative Commons license.