“The Dad Is Not A Person; It’s A Lifestyle”: 50 Pics That Scream Dad Energy, Shared By Facebook Page
Nothing changes a man's life like becoming a father. Being entrusted with the responsibility and care of another person is a huge task.
You need to help your child's development, which includes playing, being a good role model, and being warm, loving, and engaged.
But all of this effort is insanely rewarding. Not only do you see your kid grow into an adult but you also get an automatic pass to make all the dad jokes you want.
But don't just take my word for it. There's an online project called The Dad and it's dedicated to illuminating this joyful journey. One of the ways it does that is by tweeting and retweeting spot-on takes on family life and parenting.
More info: thedad.com | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
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We managed to get in touch with Joel Willis, the founder and executive editor for The Dad, and he was kind enough to have a little chat with us about his own parenting journey.
"As a parent, the only thing you can be certain of is that you will be constantly surprised by what happens. What To Expect When Expecting should just say 'Who knows? But you'll figure it out, probably,'" Willis told Bored Panda.
Every kid, family, and the experiences they share are so different, and Willis thinks it's precisely the reason why raising a child is the best challenge you can have. "Every day is a clean slate full of endless possibilities for tragedy and triumph."
"Parents should keep that in mind, and not be too rigid about what they expect to happen or how they think their kid must behave," he said. "Go with the flow and embrace the craziness. If everything went as planned, wouldn't that be boring? I'm seriously asking, wouldn't it? Please let me know. I have no idea because nothing in my life has gone as planned since my first kid was born 12 years ago."
"While every journey is different, all parents are on the same unpredictable rollercoaster. That's why The Dad content resonates with so many, because we get to laugh at the shared absurdity of it all," the man added.
Going through these tweets, the idea that a man can possess parenting instincts and is not just suited to be a provider or a hapless sidekick looks natural, but it is actually relatively new. Just a few generations ago, it was highly controversial. In the '70s, for example, the expectation that men should do more was picking up steam, but they were still considered a poor substitute for moms.
"[The mid-'70s] was the heyday of attachment theory, which, as it was incarnated then, was very much focused on the critical importance of the attachment between an infant and its mother in the first years of life," Michael Lamb, who became a forerunner of fatherhood research at the time and continues to study it at the University of Cambridge in the UK, told Today's Parent. "That went along with the assumption that it was the only [primary] relationship kids could form."
But at the turn of this century, researchers discovered an incredible detail about men: our bodies transform when we become fathers. Turns out, our hormonal systems alter dramatically when we become parents. And it doesn't matter if we're talking biological dads or adoptive ones, heterosexual or queer, the same applies for everyone.
This amazing revelation basically implies that despite the narrow role fathers have put themselves into for so long, our internal chemistry may have always been nudging us toward more involvement.
We know that oxytocin (the love hormone) plays a role in a mother's initial bonding with her child after birth but researchers have observed that the same spike in oxytocin occurs when fathers hold and play with their newborns too.
I was about 5 - so, 1960 - when I asked my mom what it was like to ride in a covered wagon.
When that love drug floods a new father, his testosterone level typically drops, making him less likely to take risks and more able to nurture his newborn. Furthermore, he registers an increase in prolactin, which is a hormone best known for helping women produce breastmilk.
University of Notre Dame anthropologist Lee Gettler explained that the presence of prolactin goes back hundreds of millions of years to our animal ancestors, even before mammals (and breastfeeding) existed. Over the past decade, Gettler has determined the connection between the hormone and modern-day dads. "Fathers with higher prolactin play with their babies in ways that are beneficial for their babies' learning and exploration, and the fathers also seem to be more responsive and sensitive to infant cries," he said. This ancient hormone increases a dad's desire to be close to their little one!
That should come as a relief to those men who are worried about becoming a father. If you put in the time and effort, you're going to be fine. You're a natural!
The householder described the decision to disconnect his electricity on aesthetic grounds as "blatantly unconstitutional"
"Don't try to be perfect," Joel Willis of The Dad said. "There's no such thing as a perfect parent. We all make mistakes. Our kids will grow into adults, and even if they're happy and successful and independent, they'll certainly resent us for something. I tell my kids this sometimes and you know what? The thing they'll resent me for is probably telling them they're going to resent me for something someday."
Willis divides parenting mistakes into big and small. According to him, if you try to avoid the big ones as best you can and don't worry about the small ones, you should be fine. "They build character," he said.
For more similar content, follow The Dad using the links in the introduction. "I just want to mention that while I am the founder and editor-in-chief, The Dad is made up of a team of talented, creative, hilarious folks who create the best parenting content on the web, day after day," Willis added. "They are the best."
Set him straight or he'll never have a profitable career in insurance fraud
And if there's a world record for fastest time to fully unclothe yourself, a toddler that can barely crawl will shatter it.
Pro tip: Never buy any new screws. That way you're forced to use the dull threaded, half stripped, too small, flat head screw left over from that 1990's Ikea dresser that you've saved for decades. Feels good man.
Load More Replies...NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER YIELD. KEEP ALL THE SCRAP WOOD, KEEP ALL THE SCREWS.
My mom who's 81 got a new tv and the screws for the stand were missing. It was my job to assemble it. She says "look in my tool kit" and I'm like this is pointless, these are a really specific item, we should just go the the hardware store. I look anyway and LO! The perfect screws. She only had like 10 and 2 fit perfectly. She is 81 and that is the first time it has worked out that she can remember😅 #Lifegoals
Load More Replies...I used two a couple weeks ago to reattach the knobs on the doors of a beautiful vintage buffet. When I got it the knobs were just in one of the drawers and the screws had been long lost. I just happened to have two that fit perfectly
My husband thinks EVERYTHING comes with extra parts — especially screws
Good for you. Just curious, how long did it take to find it? Also how long did your family have to listen to you brag about it?
Omg!! JUST LASTNIGHT I USED 3 SPARES!!! 3!! I still have about 500 in a jar..but **3** lol
My dad uses spare screws he has saved for years all the time... probably because he could fairly easily cover a hardware store for a week (likely much longer in a pinch, especially if you like electric motors). We literally just talked tonight about him using a rock tumbler to clean the dirty ones... this is how we spend our zoom chats.
I should note that, while neither my dad nor I are people you would call "organized", we can both sort screws for hours in a certain mood.
Load More Replies...I'm not a dad, but I've used spare screws and nails that I've stored up.
In for the record. But my husband had to throw out a tin of Nails, Bolts and Screws, because they were rusty.
The trick is to store them in closed jars with that silicone "do not eat" stuff.
Load More Replies...Just realized my dad did it multiple times - but only cause my mother keeps his selection organized.
Even worse: "This idiot once got so drunk he kissed the maid of honor"
My husband on 1st January: Hey, we have to go for a run, because the previous run we did was last year...(yesterday)
Honestly I quite often feel like a last-century kind of dinosaur, and I'm not even 40
And this is why some people think f***y packs are cool...never mind how old the picture is.
Increasing the costs of our weekly grocery shopping with at least €100 is why I got to stay at home.
'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a device was in use, not even the mouse. The phones were all hung up with chargers galore, while a 3d printed wreath was displayed on the door.
My FIL used to snap his fingers before sneezing because he sneezed to loud. I jumped so high the first time I heard him sneeze because they forgot to warm me.
.... and then wake up early for work for another 50 years... and then when you are retired and don't need to wake up early any more, you can't sleep any more and still wake up early!
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