Tag: parenting

Egged On

I had my first true full-frustration-with-my-daughter moment, and it didn’t feel good. I was feeding her scrambled eggs, and she was doing everything she could to get the eggs anywhere but in her mouth. She would grab the eggs and then just drop or fling them. I would try to feed her with the spoon and she would knock it away with hands or elbows (or both; she’s going to be a heckuva defender when playing basketball). It really frustrated me. I kept reminding myself that “she’s nine-months-old, she’s not doing this on purpose, etc etc yada yada yada.” But man, it really frustrated me. I finally gave up on the scrambled eggs by themselves, added some sweet potato to hold everything together better, and then the feeding went on without a(nother) hitch. It took me a little while to come down off of that, because man, it REALLY frustrated me.

(Editor’s note: She was bothered not even a little bit. In fact, I think she enjoyed it. And I know for a fact our dog loved it. Incredible edible egg, indeed.)

What I’ve Learned as a Father

I have now been a father for eight and a half months, and I have learned a lot during that time. About myself and…other things. Lots and lots of other things. Way too many other things.

WHAT I’VE LEARNED AFTER BECOMING A FATHER:

I learned there is a lot more to using a blender than putting food in and hitting “blend.”

I learned that avocados are impossible to be cut if they are not SUPER ripe.

I learned that three people — one of them an almost nine-month-old — can go through an entire household supply of silverware. In a single day. Multiple days a week.

I have learned that dishwashers really are a godsend.

I learned that I am very bad at snaps. Like, embarrassingly bad. Like, screwing up on the snaps of her clothes at least twice a day.

I learned a new level of exhaustion. Our daughter sleeps through the night, and we get more sleep now than we did before she arrived, and yet I am completely wiped every hour of every day. I can’t even imagine what it must be like for parents of kids who don’t sleep. My heart, and coffee, goes out to them.

I have learned that ignoring laundry for one day makes the pile seem so insurmountable that one day becomes three days, and all of a sudden we’re doing nothing but laundry.

I learned what a potty mouth I have. I knew I liked to use certain four-letter words, but now that I’m hyper-aware of what actions and words of mine my child will mimic, I really need to cut the $#!+.

I learned that becoming a dad doesn’t automatically make me more mature. It’s like a birthday — suddenly there’s something different about me, but I’m still the same me, so there’s really nothing different about me.

I’ve learned what my wife said about being a parent rings as true now as it did when our daughter was born: “tired, clueless, and completely in love.”

Spoonman

I was pretty proud (and, if we’re being honest, impressed with myself) when I taught our daughter to eat with a spoon. And by eat with a spoon, I mean I put food on the spoon, hand her the spoon, she takes the spoon and sticks it in her mouth. So I was a little annoyed when today, out of the blue, she decided she no longer wanted to have a hand in feeding herself with the spoon. She just wanted to be hand fed.

So as I sat there, annoyed with my daughter, she grabbed some of the chicken (yes, that’s chicken) with her hand, and stuck it in her mouth. This was a first for her – she’s fed herself puffs, but not real food. Usually she would just play with her food and get her hands all messy.

Her hands were still messy, but there was no food left when she was done. So what started as a fail turned into a win. Albeit a messy one.