15 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Fatherhood

By Author: Peter Amoo
Total Articles: 2
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so you’re about to become a dad. Congratulations! This is a big deal.

I know you’re looking forward to it – it can be a great joy and privilege. But there are lots of things that you’re not expecting and that nobody told you about beforehand. And while some of these things will fade into the background and become just part of life with a young child, others will take up a lot of your time and attention and distract you from other things in your life.

1. It’s going to be terrifying: You will be more scared on the day your child is born than you have ever been in your life. And that feeling is normal.
2. Don’t worry about not being a good dad: There will be lots of things you’re bad at, lots of mistakes you’ll make, but being a good dad is not one of them.
3. The only thing you have to be is yourself: You will worry a lot about being a good dad, and while that can be helpful at times it’s also a wasted effort because there is no such thing as a ‘good’ dad, just a dad who is trying to do his best. The thing that makes you a good dad is showing your kids that loving them is the best ...
... thing you do with your life.
4. You will want to break down crying when your baby is born. This will pass.
5. Sleep when the baby sleeps because you won’t be able to sleep when the baby is awake
6. You will spend lots of time looking at pictures of your baby on your phone, because it turns out…
7. The exhaustion never ends, but you will be happy about it every day.
8. You will worry about all kinds of things that seem pretty dumb now, like whether they’ll become good people, whether they’ll excel at sports, whether they’ll like music you like, whether they’ll like girls (or guys). You’ll still worry, even when they turn out much better than you’d dreamed.
9. You will never feel more loved than when your child looks at you and says, “Daddy!”
10. You will love nothing more than the feeling of your child sleeping on your chest.
11. You won’t know how much poop comes out of those tiny babies until their diaper comes off and you catch an eye full of it…
12. Your kids are little for a very short amount of time. It would be a shame to miss even one day of that.
13. You’re going to feel like a total incompetent father at least once a day for the first few years. it will pass.
14. Every moment of your baby’s first few years is precious…so savor them instead of taking 10,000 pictures. This is the only time will ever have these moments.
15. You’ll read parenting advice, but remember- there are no rules, only guidelines. Do what feels right for you and your family.

Despite all of these experiences, being a dad is still one of the best things that can happen to a man.

Peter Amoo, author of the book “How To Become A Better Father” helps new fathers (with children under 10yrs), struggling to be the dad they never had, to develop good fathering skills and become better and involved fathers. Follow me @thepeteramoo on Instagram & Facebook. How To Become A Better Father ebook is available at https://bit.ly/BetterFatherEbook