Don't Worry...Be Daddy

If Bobby McFerrin taught us anything it's to not worry, be happy, and ignore internet rumors about your own suicide.  After having three children, I'm finally starting to not worry and just be happy.  As far as I know I haven't committed suicide.

Parenting's version of drawing on the person that passed out first.

It's almost funny now to recall  how over-the-top worried I was with our firstborn child.  "Why isn't he crawling yet?"  "What's that rash?"  "Will he ever learn to talk?"  "Is he mine?"    All these questions and more kept popping up for us and when we'd
compare our child to other children it was even worse.  So Don't Compare Your Child With Other Children!!! 

Nothing can prepare you for the stress that awaits you at the birth of your new child; especially not those ridiculous parenting classes you take at the hospital.  We worried about his mental and physical development, potty training, safety proofing the entire house, the shape of his head, breastfeeding, and about three hundred other things.  If his colic wasn't enough to keep us awake at night, the worries were.  Then, for reasons that now elude me, we decided to have a second child. 

The same face I made when I found out we were pregnant.

It was one of the best decisions we've made.  We learned to relax a lot more with our second child.  The wife chose not to breastfeed, which I've always felt was a smart choice.  The greatest thing we could have done for our daughter's well being though was to lower our expectations.  She had more opportunities to exercise freedom and develop independence than our son did; which is really just another way of saying we were so tied up working with our son that she had to fend for herself.  She learned to get dressed, brush her teeth, and forage for food in the fridge without any guidance from us.  Add to this the fact that she practically potty trained herself, and the decision to have another child was too easy.

With Libby, we haven't really worried at all...so far.  At six months, our oldest daughter was crawling; at nine months, Libby still has problems sitting up.  Are we worried?  No.  Her head is larger than 97% of the other babies her age.  Are we worried?  No.  Worrying doesn't do a damned thing; I'm pretty sure that's in the Bible somewhere.  So just relax, sit back, and be Daddy.


Don't Worry, There's More Parenting Advice Here.