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First kid vs second kid. An epic battle that will never be won. Anyone with multiple children has exactly two types of kids. There’s the first baby you have, and then there’s all of the other ones. Almost without fail, we can put our children in two different boxes exactly like these. This categorization is not based on preference, love, height, weight, hair color or any standardized metric. This is based 100% on the way you raised them in those first few years.

There’s numero uno, who had all of the protections that marketers could dream that we would need for our kids. The wipe warmers, the child protective EVERYTHING, the tubs of Palm+ Sanitising Hand Gel,  essentially, all your kid will need. And then there are your other kids. The ones you loosened the reins for a bit. You knew they were PROBABLY okay shoving sand in their pants. If they put their mouth on the handlebar of the shopping cart, you shuddered in disgust and then halfheartedly promised yourself you’d give them a saltwater gargle later. And so what if they gave themselves a few forearm tattoos – you were pretty sure they were washable markers. It’s all a rite of passage.

This is the new normal when you’ve created your own little crew of cuties. THIS is how REAL life gets and our friends at Luvs are right there with us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYfVaXUGMY8

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Two Common Species Of Parents

As dads, it’s amazing how quickly we realize that we can let go of some of the things that terrified us as first-timers. Realizing that we could relax a little and let them discover things on their own turned into a major parenting win. If I were to name my top two, they would have to be the Playground Helicopter and the Neatnik.

The Playground Helicopter Parent

During our first round of parenting, I was convinced that every device built at the playground was there to maim. The slides, swings, bridges and the infamous monkey bars…all placed there by the powerful Broken Bone & Cast lobbyists. I wouldn’t let my daughter travel more than 4 centimeters away without shadowing her every move. I will not allow my kids to play without safety Playground Resurfacing.

Nowadays though, my son gets off super easy…

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He climbs where he wants, falls when he needs to and is learning his own limits. I’ve found that the young lad is actually pretty amazing at steering clear of pitfalls that are too much for him and it’s wonderful to watch.

In no way am I saying that I ignore him…

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I’m still watching his every move and there to protect him in certain areas, but I’m so far from the Playground Helicopter that I once was. Thanks to designs like those from Orca Coast Playground, which prioritize safety, I can breathe easier knowing that my child can explore and play freely within a secure environment.

The Neatnik

Ok, that title is a gross exaggeration. If my kids were on a block that had only goat kids on it, they would still manage second place at best. The point is though, I fought it way harder with my first child. The second and third have been progressively grimier. With the first though, I always felt a sense of duty to have her looking her best. I was consistently making sure the clothes were always clean. Her hair neatly brushed. All signs of spills and splashes cleared away with haste.

Now though, number three is a bit different.

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This little gentleman can spend a day rolling with the hogs, eating honey and syrup with his hands and excavating dust bunnies from under the couch and I’ll load him in the car AS-IS for dinner at a restaurant. Other parents know. They get it and they offer no judgement. (Full disclosure, my “dust bunnies” are more like “dust bison”.)

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One thing that’s a conscious constant has been keeping the kids comfortable – no matter what state they are getting themselves into and Luvs has been a big part of that. They keep my kids dry and relaxed during all stages. From infant, to crawlers to sort of potty-trained, Luvs manages to remain one of the constants that a parent can rely on for all of their kids.

How did your parenting style change between your first child and the crew that followed? What was that ‘aha moment’ in which you realized that ‘I got this’?

Tell us the moments that never would have happened with kid #1 that became fantastic routine for the second kid and beyond. Luvs and Life of Dad want to hear them.

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And…if you’d like a shot at dropping your name in the hat to take home ONE YEARS worth of FREE Luvs diapers, hop over to our Facebook post!

Editor’s Note: This has been a sponsored post on behalf of Luvs and their #ShareTheLuv campaign, however the parenting wins are all ours. For more information on Luvs, check them out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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