The End of the Dad-emic
Hey Dads! Through the last ten months, we’ve been gifted an opportunity to step up and step out as fathers in 2021. The pandemic, with the passion of a thousand screaming sons (and daughters), halted everything in life and made us change our roles at home. We are now more than just Dad jokes and wearing New Balances as white as a fresh Lake Effect snowfall. Now’s the time for us to:
Give Mom a Break. She’s Done A Lot. It’s easy to feel like we are only parents, followed by whoever we are at work and finally you, yourself, the individual comes last. One thing my wife and I have done throughout the pandemic is ensure we both have time to ourselves to just unplug and be alone. Doing this in your home allows us all to keep your life balanced, mind at ease and allows your children to see teamwork in action. By focusing on the wellbeing of your partner, helps your relationship remain strong, while teaching strong relationship skills to your little observers. Warning: this may entail extra episodes of Cocomelon and a few poop explosions but will be worth it in the end.
Be the Superhero They Watch on Disney+: We let our children spend countless hours watching movies about superheroes and we sometimes see our kids pretending they have superpowers of their own. Now that we’re home, take the time to be the superhero they really need. Show them your superpowers and all the tools in your imaginary superhero tool belt. In case you don’t know, it begins with you just being present, followed by making a complete fool out of yourself and some pretty roughed up knees.
Hold Your Child Like You Hold Your Phone. In full transparency, I was guilty of this one, too. Checking emails, responding to work texts and constantly scrolling social media for work and personal use takes up hours of our day. So much so, that when we one day look at our grown children and ask, “where did the time go?” it will most likely be because you chose to hold on to your phone and not your child. If one lesson has been taught through the past year, it is that life is precious and relationships at home are central to our survival.
Cook Up New Hobbies. Our fifteen-month-old son loves to use his learning stool as he helps us prepare dinner at night. I always have him clean off the counter and then give him something to keep him busy as I cook. He loves it. So, for Christmas we decided his “big gift” would be a garden to kitchen play set, which each night he makes us plastic lettuce wraps and uses the round produce as projectiles. The point is, we made something that he’s into right now a fun, new hobby that we do together for play and for our dinner plates. What’s your hobby you’ve been working on with your kid(s)?
About Matt: Matt is a proud husband to his wife Heather and father to Tuckerman first, Director of Marketing and Community Outreach for a nonprofit in Westerville, Ohio second. He hosts The Dadass Podcast with his good friend Shaun focused on figuring out this whole parenting and adulting thing. Shaun a counselor and Matt a new Dad, talk with guest parents and experts to learn things one conversation and drink at a time. Check it out on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and follow them on Instagram and Facebook…it’s not just for Dads!
