Glad to find a group to hang out with!

[Jackson's Dad]

Hi Everyone,

I am a new first time Dad. Jackson was born just about seven weeks ago, and I am rocking him to sleep as I type. (It takes a little coordination, but I think I got the hang of it.) What an adventure. Slowly, I am getting in the swing of this... but my god, why didn't anyone warn us this would be so tough! :) Although he has just started to smile... just melts my craggy ol' heart.

I've been looking around the web for a Father's group for a while now, and I'm glad to have found one that looks so active. Maybe this site will keep me from grumbling to my wife about how unfair it is that she has so many "Mommy and Me" type organizations, but none are for fathers.

Oh wow, I think he's finally asleep. Maybe I can go sneak off and get to bed myself. (1am? Hey, that's not so bad!)

Dan

[tommyw/1]

Hi Dan. First off....Congrats on the new addition! CHEERS! :drinkers: Welcome to the site. I think you'll find the advice helpful & the stories humerous. I'm new here and it's helped me to know there are "other's" out there doin' it! I'm sure this isn't the first time you've heard this cliche....and it won't be the last time either......"It gets better"!! Good Luck!

[Remington]

Congrats on the new baby! :D

It sure is tough but it is worth it by far. We are so happy to have another dad here. Look forward to sharing stories and ideas.

Welcome to dadstayshome.com

[tt3]

Welcome welcome, congrats too!

I really dig your avatar, very cool!

[Don-Dad]

Congratulations and welcome yo our site. Nice avatar! Please stop by and shaer some of your stories and by all means, vent away.

[Jackson's Dad]

I really dig your avatar, very cool!

Thanks. I'm the one with the glasses and the big nose. :D

[SAHF]

:!:

Welcome to the site. And welcome Jackson to the world! :bear:

This site is very active and there are always someone that is willing to help. The only catch here is...we all have advice from different backgrounds but we all strive for a common goal.

Everyone here is great. Come on and vent, ask your questions. The average child to dad is 2-1, unless you are Rem! :D

Again, welcome and congrats!

[Remington]

Just because I have 4 - lol

Anybody else have 4 or more??? :D

[SAHF]

Just because I have 4 - lol

Anybody else have 4 or more??? :D


Uhmmmm.....NO! :D

[Jackson's Dad]

Four? FOUR? Oh man. And I am struggling with just one. How do you do it? We are planning on having two, but when Jack's being difficult, we threaten him with "you don't want to be an only child, do you?" :P

[Remington]

Well, actually 3. We just have one due in December so I am exagerating a bit here. My oldest is 4. Then one that will be 3 next month. And we have one that turned 1 July 8th.

So when this one is born in December I will have 4 kids all under the age 4 1/2...

It gets crazy man - but they are all well behaved usually. It is a mind set. You wake up and just do it. I find it easier the more I have. They are good at entertaining and playing with each other. My oldest is very independent and gets her and everybody drinks and food if I am doing something momentarily. She is helped potty train my son.

But, I will stop and read books or shove them outside and play kickball with them for an hour or so. Then I give "formal" naps. It is mandatory that everybody gets a nap at the same time. They are used to it and behave much better and sleep much better at night with a nap. It doesn't have to be very long. It can range from 1 - 3 hours depending on how much they need it.

My oldest is allowed to read books as long as she stays on her bed and is quiet.

The trick to having a lot of them is a structured day. The kids need it and I definitely need it. When mom gets home everything kind of falls apart and it is a little more difficult to control them. But they are excited and stuff.

[Jackson's Dad]

I'm glad to know that they get easier in quantity since my wife (and, sure, me too) really wants a second. There are twins in our families as well, so part of me wonders in the next child will actually turn out to be two.

A mindset... yeah, makes sense. I guess thes first few difficult months are the kid's way of saying "hey, I'm the priority now." Ever watch the BBC sitcom "Coupling"? (Not the awful American version.) When the two main characters find out that they are pregnant, one says "we can't be the children anymore." I thought that about summed it up. We are in our late 30s, so not kids, but it is definitely hard at first to give up that selfish do-what-I-wanna-do attitude. But slowly, I think we are adjusting, and accepting the idea that we are now the parents. Crazy to think, but true!

Dan

[mjknapp]

I read an article awhile back about parents with one child vs. parents with multiple children, I wish I knew where I read it, or the exact quotes, but the jist of it was that all parents have it equally hard, every good parent out there gives 100% to their kid or kids. So Bob might only have one kid, but is devoting 100% of himself to his kid, and let's say Troy has 4 kids, but he also is devoting 100% of himself to all of his kids. I know that 4 kids might be more demanding than one, but the devotion and time spent is equal in my opinion, just Troy is dividing his up between more kids than Bob.


Does that make sense, cause I think I confused myself. :wink:

[Remington]

Actually I feel it gets easier the more kids I have. They can play together but with one kid you really need to focus on stimulating their brains. Once you got like 3 or 4 the rest fall right into line. :D

[Jackson's Dad]

3 or 4? Yeah, right. :wink:

Then again, I'm the third of four, and we all turned out ok.

[Remington]

:lol: :lol:

Your parents lost count after 3 eh?

[Jackson's Dad]

Let's just say my little brother was a surprise. :wink:

[Remington]

I am a surprise too. I used to tell everybody I was an accident in grade school until my parents were overly embarrased and told me to make sure I let them know I was a great surprise.... lol

[SAHF]

:wink:

Rem is trying to get his basketball team together! :D

[mjknapp]

He will have the whole team in 5 yrs time.....lol

[Remington]

I am going for a footbal team - both an offensive line and defensive line. :D

[mjknapp]

I am going for a footbal team - both an offensive line and defensive line. :D


Nice!!

[Don-Dad]

Your wife can be the "tight end" you will be the quarterback. Actually it might be more fun if your the quarterback and she is the center. 8)

[SAHF]

Your wife can be the "tight end" you will be the quarterback. Actually it might be more fun if your the quarterback and she is the center. 8)

That is how he got in to the stats portion of kid control in the first place!

:lol:

[Remington]

Yea, we use that strategy when we need more players. :wink:

[mjknapp]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[SAHF]

:lol: