Being a Dad is pretty awesome and there’s always a lot of advice and tips that people are always willing to give a first time Daddy-to-be. But there’s quite a few things that nobody ever told me about being a Dad which would have been handy to know in the beginning to properly prepare and psych myself for.
So I’ve compiled a short list of things I’ve discovered myself and am willing to share with any Daddy newbies out there.
Here’s a quick list of 5 things nobody tells you about being a Dad:
1. Baby fingernails are sharper than adamantium claws.
The only thing worse than hearing fingernails on a blackboard is having your cheeks, eyelids, lips and nostrils shredded to pieces by tiny razor-like Kruegeresque knives forged in the belly of a dragon at the bottom of a volcano.
2. Despite what you think, babies are not as vulnerable as they look.
Even though babies come into this world vulnerable and defenceless, it only takes a few months before their inherent self-defence ninja skills come to the fore. They may look incredibly cute and adorable lying in your arms as you gently rock them to sleep, but they can incapacitate an elephant simply by totally pinching the sh*t out of the skin on your neck with the strength and accuracy of a Vulcan warrior.
3. The topic for today and everyday, for seemingly the rest of your life…is POO.
Never in the history of your life, did you ever think, you could possibly talk about anything in as much detail as poo. The Adam Goodes booing affair, Chapelle Corby’s drug trafficking, the finale of Game of Thrones Season 5 ‘is Jon Snow really dead?’. None of these things was ever talked about as much as the texture, consistency, colour, quantity, fragrance and coverage of your child’s outer ‘contribution to society’.
4. The arch of a child’s back can support the weight of 10 men.
If you’ve ever tried to strap a toddler into a car seat when you’re absolutely in a desperate hurry to get somewhere, or you need to quickly get them in to attend to the chilling screams of their younger sibling sobbing uncontrollably in the seat next to them with the volumetric capacity to set off every car alarm within a ten block radius, or simply because they’re wearing the wrong shoes, then you know. It can take the full weight of a State of Origin scrummage to push them back into the seat so you can get their seatbelt on.
and finally…
5. If your heart could get any bigger, it would be outside your chest.
Despite the current list above, the immense joy, satisfaction, love and reward you feel in knowing that you’ve created these amazing beings and hopefully, raising them to become incredible people one day is the greatest feeling you can possibly imagine…especially, when they’re finally in their beds, fast asleep.
What things have you discovered nobody told you about?
Spot on!
Great article mate! I especially love the ‘arch of the back’ one. My boy was completely immovable!
I know right. I reckon if you got a hundred toddlers throwing tanties and arching their backs, they’d be strong enough to support the weight of the Eiffel Tower.
Very funny. I certainly relate to all of the above. The Arched back point you made is known as planking in our family. It’s my 8mo sons go to position to get what he wants.
That’s clearly where the term, “he/she is so inflexible on this matter. They simply won’t budge,” comes from. Little buggers 😉