Kiddipedia
Hey Dads, gather around, I’ve got a little secret to tell you.
It’s a secret that for some reason society and if I’m honest sometimes even us Mum’s, often keep from you.
Here’s the truth; you are totally capable and are totally equal to us in this whole parenting gig.
Apart from breastfeeding and childbirth, there is nothing, literally nothing that us Mums can do that you Dads can’t.
Case in point: When our son was three months old I went away overnight. It was a close friend’s hen’s weekend. When I told people I was going I often got a bit of a shocked reaction followed by the question “but who’s looking after the baby?” My answer, “Well he does have a father you know”. Now I’ll admit, I was nervous about leaving hubby at home alone for forty-eight hours with our little baby. He hadn’t really been alone with our son for more than an hour or so whilst I popped down the shops. Talk about throwing him into the deep end! But he happily took on the challenge. He didn’t see it as babysitting duty, he saw it as Dad duty. Go Dad!
I only called once during that 48 hours (even though I really wanted to pick up that phone every 30 seconds!). I was told everything was fine and just enjoy my time away. When I returned I was told the truth; our son had decided to have a bit of meltdown while I was away. He screamed his little lungs out for ‘hours’ (don’t worry I’m sure it wasn’t actually that long, it probably just felt like it) and refused for some time to take his bottle. Hubby freaked out a bit, he even called my sister over to come and help. She did but promptly left him once everything was back under control (good work sis). Because of course, she was in on the secret. She knew, just as I did, that Hubby was totally capable he just needed to see that he was. It was a long night for him I’m sure but after that, he was confident in his abilities, he knew he could do it and I have no doubt that something clicked inside our little babies brain too; hey this guy has got this, I’m safe with him.
I think there is often a false belief that women are born with all the skills needed to be a good parent; that we know everything there is to know about babies and kids. Not true. Sometimes, we can be just as clueless as men (sorry guys!) Sometimes, we just don’t know what the hell we’re doing; we’re feeling around in the dark, trying different things until we hit on the thing that works. We need to figure stuff out too. Don’t know how to do your little girl’s hair? Neither do I! Thank Christ I didn’t have a daughter otherwise she’d be going off to school with some seriously questionable hairdos. Don’t know how often and how much a baby needs to eat? Neither did I, I totally googled that! Don’t know why the baby is crying? It’s just a process of elimination really…Hungry? No. Tired? No. Poo in their nappy? Jackpot!
Dads, you’ve got this, you really do.
When it comes to parenting, there will always be things I’m better at but there will also always be things that I know my hubby is better at too.
That’s why there are two of us; to balance it all out!
So get in there and do your thing Dad’s, we need you!
You might also like:
5 Things to Let Go of in Parenting that will Save Your Sanity
