Your wife’s pregnant, you’ve designed your baby’s room and you’re waiting for him or her to enter the world. This is an unforgettable time in a man’s life as he transitions to being a dad, but there is a lot that you need to know, too.
Fatherhood isn’t a perfect fairytale, and a lot will change both to you and for your relationship with your child’s mother.
Six things that every man needs to know about being a dad are:
Son asking for help with homework
1. You Won’t Have All the Answers
You may be brilliant and have all of the answers when it comes to finances, work and even home life, but when you become a dad, there will be a lot of unknowns. A night cough can become a concern. Is he or she ok? Should I call the doctor?
My baby won’t sleep all of a sudden, what’s wrong?
Your natural love and bond with your child will lead to you questioning everything you thought you knew before being a father.
2. Vacations Will Change Forever
Those beautiful dreams of going to a tropical island with your spouse have all but fizzled out. The truth is that vacations will never, ever be the same. You’ll have to think about traveling with a child, fun things to keep the kids entertained (things that may bore you to death), find babysitters and share time with your spouse.
3. There Will Be a Power Struggle
Children will try and find the weakness of either parent. Mom might say that it’s okay for Molly to go over to her friend’s house while dad may want Molly to do her homework. Oftentimes, kids will ask the lenient parent first while the stern parent is away.
You need to come to common ground when it comes to the decisions surrounding your children to find a way to avoid quarrels.
4. Alone Time and Sex Will Suffer
The alone time you share with your spouse will be affected. While this alone time will diminish greatly for the first ten years of a child’s life, it will return as they’re able to take care of themselves more. When it comes to performing better one can check out this site for professional help.
This means less sex, less time cuddling and less overall time to just be with your spouse.
Even a bad dream can cause you and your spouse to have to get up out of bed and comfort your child.
5. Everyone Will Have Opinions
Everyone will have opinions on how you should raise your child. Discipline issues are also a major source of conflict. Prepare yourself for your family to recommend you change certain habits to what they “recommend.”
You’ll also find this happens with your father-in-law, too.
He may not understand why you’re punishing your child for skipping school, or he may think you should punish your child over trivial things.
It’s best to learn to ignore these comments or try to stop them early on in a child’s life. It can become overwhelming and utterly frustrating when another person tells you how to raise your children.
6. You’ll Age Instantly
Not only will you have a baby to take care of now, but you’ll age almost instantly. Your life choices will change, and you’ll find yourself passing out on the couch early at night because your child kept you up all night.
A sense of wisdom will also come to you.
You’ll mature a lot for your child, and you may even notice lifestyle changes. You may quit smoking or start eating healthy because you now have a new purpose and responsibility in life. Every father undergoes drastic changes when they have a child that will mature them virtually overnight.