Fatherhood anonymous; an open discussion on being a dad.

[skaredshtles]

That’s a lot of drugs dad!

You have no idea... wait. Maybe you do??

[phatty]

Anyone else crazy enough to have 3? 5, 3, and 8 months.

3? That's rookie stuff.

We settled at 5. 20, 17, 15, 14, 11. 4 boys with a girl to round it out. All skiers still trying to keep up with me. Wouldn't change a thing. It honestly gets easier after 3.

[BC.]

Being that my wife and I are both only children….we stopped at 2 girls…lol.

We’ve been living paycheck to paycheck for 20 years and now having both in college we continue to hustle our way through the monthly financial struggle…..but, we are doing it.

Watching them grow up to be what they are today has been a hell of a rewarding ride. The trips we’ve taken around the country…the hiking, the skiing, enjoying the outdoors……has created a love for the environment, science, and recreation within my daughters that will hopefully pass on to their families someday….it’s all been totally worth it.

Again, as stated upthread…..wouldn’t change a thing.

[Mofro261]

Being that my wife and I are both only children….we stopped at 2 girls…lol.

We’ve been living paycheck to paycheck for 20 years and now having both in college we continue to hustle our way through the monthly financial struggle…..but, we are doing it.

Watching them grow up to be what they are today has been a hell of a rewarding ride. The trips we’ve taken around the country…the hiking, the skiing, enjoying the outdoors……has created a love for the environment, science, and recreation within my daughters that will hopefully pass on to their families someday….it’s all been totally worth it.

Again, as stated upthread…..wouldn’t change a thing.

All of this. My boy and girl are 22 and 20 and both out of state full time now. Got to say I sailed through the teens without any karmic retribution, getting into the outdoors with the kids from an early age was probably the reason we remained such a tight family unit.

They will thank you for it-

[SkiLyft]

Love all the perspective flowing through this thread!

She’s almost 6 months and crushed a 7 mile hike in her carrier today — seeing her curiosity and stoke regarding nature truly warmed my soul!






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[phatty]

Love all the perspective flowing through this thread!

She’s almost 6 months and crushed a 7 mile hike in her carrier today — seeing her curiosity and stoke regarding nature truly warmed my soul!






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Love this!

Here's me and my middle 2 boys summiting Mt. St. Helens a few weeks back. I've been really fortunate to have lots of outdoor adventures with them over the years thanks to church and Boy Scouts. Still have a few years with kids at home and milking it for all I can.

Another key is helping your wife/partner stay as active as they want to be. My wife got out of shape after #5 and has struggled to get back to where she wants to be. We'll get her there, but it's led to some tougher times. I didn't do enough sacrificing of my own activities for her and I'm paying a price. New dads, don't make that mistake.

[The Reverend Floater]

You know what's fun? An 18 month old that can climb out of her crib in under 30 seconds even at it's tallest setting, with the mattress on the floor.

The first night it happened, I put her down and was watching hockey. About a minute later I hear her door open and she casually walks into the den, sits down and sucks her thumb without a word, staring at the TV. Very confused, I put her back and left the door cracked so I could see what was going on. Out in 30 seconds. Wife and I drop the mattress to the floor...out in 30 seconds.

How, you ask? By stemming like she's climbing a chimney route....pulls herself up as far as she can, then extends her legs against two adjacent beams while holding on to the rail, then swings leg up while pulling her body over. It's fucking crazy. And very problematic.

We started putting her in a sleep sack to immobilize her legs. She is not psyched.

[JayPowHound]

Sleep Sacks were our friends for sure.

But if she's not ready to sleep, maybe watch some hockey with her? When she's done she will (hopefully) stay in place

[The Reverend Floater]

Sleep Sacks were our friends for sure.

But if she's not ready to sleep, maybe watch some hockey with her? When she's done she will (hopefully) stay in place

This one will party all night if you let her. Fortunately she's a good sleeper when not scaling the walls.

[JayPowHound]

#ferber

It does work, just hard on the psyche.

Best of luck!

[The Reverend Floater]

#ferber

It does work, just hard on the psyche.

Best of luck!

She almost never cries at night. Now we know why....she probably takes the truck to the bar.

[Buster Highmen]

ok, that's good

[schuss]

She almost never cries at night. Now we know why....she probably takes the truck to the bar.

Ours did the same thing. Fortunately he had one bad fall and stopped climbing out. We did move to the bed early with both of ours, though not that early. Our general rule is - you don't have to go to sleep, but you have to stay in your room.
It's helped a lot as the kids will generally look at books or build some Lego for 30-45 minutes then put themselves down or pass right out.

[Marshall Tucker]

You know what's fun? An 18 month old that can climb out of her crib in under 30 seconds

So our twin boys. at somewhere around 15-18 months we'd come in and they'd both be in the same crib. That freaked us out as the cribs were several feet apart. Then at about 2 yrs we came in and there was nobody in any crib. Longest 10 seconds of my life until i heard giggling. they'd climbed into the (goddamned accordian door) closet and shut the doors.

[neufox47]

Was a good day getting these two out for a float and swim. Teamed up with a friend and his daughter. Got outside, kids had a blast, and the Moms were stoked we were gone for 2 + hours.

[BmillsSkier]

All of this. My boy and girl are 22 and 20 and both out of state full time now. Got to say I sailed through the teens without any karmic retribution, getting into the outdoors with the kids from an early age was probably the reason we remained such a tight family unit.

They will thank you for it-

Well isn’t that the greatest!?! Nice job Dad.



Re: newborns and the struggles. We were clueless but for the examples we had around the family and a lot of friends that used the Moms on Call program. Fucking gold. Being newbie idiots and not having any parents nearby (here’s technically were in a neighboring state but are useless when it comes to much, especially parenting, but I digress) it was a godsend. Every thing you need to know, swaddling, bath time, bedtime, (we had the diet dialed) but most importantly is the schedule. Kids need and thrive off routine when they’re that young and man it paid off. Slept through the night at 14 weeks and never looked back.

Kid is a thriving 1st grader now but we owe so much of it to that foundation we got from that program through age ~4. It showed with his peers for sure.

Fuck, they should pay us a commission for how much business our kid generated for them just by being a walking advert of their results.

Whatever, do what works for your family and don’t look back. Cheers Dads.

[Marshall Tucker]

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/8b28363...0-d8fb6bd6c4bb

[HellgateBasement]

First off- congrats!

I use an alias because some public searches tie me to this forum, but I'm barely in the thing- my first just turned 3 a week ago, which is hard to believe, and the missus and I just had the first appointment to confirm all's well on #2 in the oven a few days ago. Have only told a few close family members, but feels good to spread the news amongst internet strangers- baby due mid october. Sex will remain unknown unless an obvious schlong presents itself on a future sonogram like the first time around...

Was "Obvious Schlong" already taken as a username? Way better than Aolias.

Let this be a warning to the childless mags out there: back in late-March I tempted the parenthood gods by flippantly posting in this thread. Now my gf is due with our first in March 2022. We're moving to Amsterdam next month and had planned on drinking our way through Europe for a few years before having kids; the adventure will look a little different now...

[SkiLyft]

^^ congrats!!

Unbeknownst to us we were pregnant and my wife consumed considerable booze in her first trimester!!

Hey, it’s yuuuurp; drinking through pregnancy is common place.


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[HellgateBasement]

^^ congrats!!

Unbeknownst to us we were pregnant and my wife consumed considerable booze in her first trimester!!

Hey, it’s yuuuurp; drinking through pregnancy is common place.


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Thanks! You make an interesting point. They mostly come out fine - why are we such prudes.

[abraham]

I was dragged around Europe as a baby and turned out semi ok. Pretty sure my parents weren't boozing around a ton but they figured we shouldn't slow them down. I think it was 9 countries on a work trip starting when I was 9 weeks old. They waited less for the first similar trip with my younger sister.

[yeahman]

My wife found out she was pregnant right before we were to leave for a two week self-supported sea kayak trip in Glacier Bay. I was worried she would bail but she did not. Turned out to be a much more demanding trip than either of us anticipated, and she was HUNGRY the whole time. But only bad part was afterward we traveled around SE Alaska for a few more weeks and she was not able to drink beers with me. She loves her breweries so she was bummed, but in the end it was one of the best trips we ever did together.

[HellgateBasement]

Thanks for the reassurance yeahman, abe, skilyft.

[neufox47]

My wife had a glass or two of wine or a beer many nights while pregnant. Both seem to be fine, the 2 yo is pretty advanced for his age.


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[irul&ublo]

Let this be a warning to the childless mags out there: back in late-March I tempted the parenthood gods by flippantly posting in this thread. Now my gf is due with our first in March 2022. We're moving to Amsterdam next month and had planned on drinking our way through Europe for a few years before having kids; the adventure will look a little different now...

Not for you. She can watch you drink and enjoy it vicariously.