Game Day Dad

Here are the thoughts that I put down on paper during week 1 of fatherhood.   The context is a little strange because I wrote it considering that I’d build this blog one day.  I decided not to rewrite it because I think it conveys a lot of what I was thinking at the time.   Read it, consider it and relate to it if you can.

Right now (the time of writing this) I’ve been a dad for about a week now.   I’ve got to say it feels more like 3 weeks and the feeling I have is that of someone who hasn’t seen the light of day for weeks.   It’s been an adventure and we love our baby so much but man is it a trial by fire for someone who has no idea what they’re getting in to.   The feeling reminds me of that when my friends and I got the idea to rent an RV and drive to an LSU vs. Florida football game in Gainesville.   The process of getting ready for the game and going to the game was extensive.   We spent a ton of money, we had all the angles covered but in the end it didn’t work out anything like we planned and we probably didn’t use 80% of what we brought.   However we brought everything we needed with the exception of some things we needed more of.   

Becoming new parents has been very much the same.  I don’t even want to see the bottom line total of everything that went in to preparation for Ella but I can tell you the first 9 days supplies used could be one trip to a well stocked grocery store.   In fact despite months of preparation I had to make several runs for additional supplies and scramble for other resources.  

My wife gave me several 500 page books leading up to Ella’s birth.   Additionally I read a couple of those everything you need books which were somewhat accurate but still probably a little over the top for a regular 20-30 year old couple living In a small home or apartment.     Also most either tried to mechanically take you through everything having to do with having a baby or only what you need for you and baby. (Excluding mom)  This is a huge tactical error because as the old saying goes” if momma ain’t happy then nobody’s happy”.  I can honestly say I’ve used about 10% of this information tops.   

This book is all about preparing for game day with what you absolutely need to pull off the party.