The Life Lessons of Parenthood

As the semester comes to a close I am deciding to do something nontraditional with this post. I want to take this time to reflect on what I have learn throughout Parenthood. Even though it has been a short 5 months, I have changed dramatically and in a very good way. Being a parent teaches us incredibly valuable things. One thing I have learned is how to appreciate my loved ones around me and my significant other. Whether it is my family being incredibly supportive or making sacrifices with my girlfriend, I truly understand what respect and appreciation means. The choices my girlfriend and I have made have truly brought us closer as well. Whether it is deciding on vaccinations or something as simple as which diapers to buy, making decisions for our daughter has made us closer, and stronger than ever before. Parenthood is truly incredible. It is trial and error and it truly tests you as a person. Parenthood is a lifelong commitment and in the short 5 months of Hadley's existence, it has led to incredible experiences and lessons that will last a lifetime.

What No One Tells You About Becoming A Parent

When becoming a parent people tell you how rewarding it is, they tell you that you won't be able to sleep, and they tell you that it is expensive. However, there are tons of things you begin to find out as parenthood progresses that you would have never imagined. This inspired me to search the internet for some sort of list discussing the topic. I stumbled upon one created by Buzz Feed that is quite funny and a few on the list are my favorite. The first one that stuck out is number 27. Whether we go to the store or a full weekend long trip home, packing takes way longer than it did before Hadley. Grabbing every toy, blanket, bottle, diaper, and cup necessary becomes a daunting task. Number 29 is pretty hilarious too. My girlfriend and I always plan to watch our shows together as soon as we put Hadley down but that usually turns into us passing out on the couch until she wakes us up again. Read through the list and let me know what your favorite thing is! Comment below and make sure to share it with your friends!

Baby Halloween Costumes

One of the greatest things about having a baby is celebrating Holidays. Dressing my daughter up in adorable outfits is a great time. For Halloween we had multiple decisions that needed to be made and we decided to dress her up as baby BatGirl. To make her outfit even better, we carved a pumpkin with the Bat Symbol in it and had her stand in it for pictures! She looked very cute and she absolutely loved carving pumpkins! What are you favorite costumers for your little ones? Have you made your own creative ideas in the past? Check out this article and see some of these hilarious baby costumes for 2015!

The Life of College Parenting

Today, I want to shed some light on the life of a parent in College. Whether it is rushing to and from school to change diapers, going to a job interview exhausted after a sleepless night, or reading Marketing textbooks to my 4 month old daughter to keep her occupied, my life is not the typical one for a college student. The Michigan Daily published an article full of the lives of other college parents around the country and I thought they would be interested to compare my own life to. The one about Nicole Morack was the one I could relate to the most. Imagine you are finally getting the swing of this whole college thing. Living on your own, pursuing a career, balancing social life and education then WHAM. Responsibility comes and punches you in the face. Just like the couple in the article, my girlfriend and I planned our schedules in order to keep Hadley out of daycare. I have yet to find a parent group on campus but luckily I have made great friends prior to the birth of our daughter who have been very supportive the whole time. I always find it interesting to read about other college students with children and how they handle the crazy wonderful life that it is. Check out the link here!

High Chair Confessions

Since my daughter is not yet old enough to eat solid foods I can't exactly relate to this one however, it is still very funny. This video is brought to you by Buzz Feed which is a social network news media form. They post everything from videos like this to recipes for easy to make foods. I started following them because they post videos of really good looking food that is incredibly easy to make. My girlfriend recently tagged me in this video that they posted. It is called "High Chair Confessions" and it describes the five personalities of babies eating in high chairs and captions what they would be saying if babies could talk. My favorite is the last one with the twins. The captions match their facial expressions perfectly and it is easy to relate to because all of us have been to a restaurant where you are the last one to get your food at the table. Click the video above and enjoy!

The Tales of Parenthood

One of the best things about being a parent is being able to discuss funny, disgusting, adorable milestones with your spouse and loved ones. Even though my daughter is only coming on 4 months, calling my parents to disgust the latest funny Hadley event or sitting on the couch with my girlfriend while she sleeps talking about the disgusting bowel movements she had earlier that day are some moments I truly cherish. I found a great article just about this topic. It is multiple parents posting about their funny parenting stories. My favorite are "21 Parenting Questions" and "The Mathematics of Parenting". Read the article and tell me what your favorite posts are! Comment below and start a discussion as well.

The New Dad Survival Guide

Every new parent needs it. Reassurance that what they are experiencing is normal. The fact that not knowing what to do with this human being your are taking home from the hospital is completely okay. Maybe articles, magazines, and books have laid out the do's and don'ts and the things you need to know however I think this article says it best. Dadvice has 90 humorous, yet vital tips and tricks to being the best parent you could be for your newborn. A few of my favorite being number 16, 18, 26 (never forget 26, otherwise the smell is horrendous), and 70. I do however, feel that this and other articles like it need to be taken with a grain of salt. These are general ideas on how to better the growth of your child and your relationship with them as a Dad but by no means is this a concrete list of things you need to know. YOU as a father know your son or daughter better than anyone else. Parenthood is trial and error (to an extent) and it is okay to figure things out along the way. It makes it a much more enjoyable experience too. My daughter is only 3 1/2 months old and I already can say that learning from experience instead of being told how to raise her has been an incredible journey. I cannot wait for what lies ahead.

What We Do For Love

As days go by, I start to realize what lengths we go to for the ones that we love. Whether it is a significant other or in my case, a child,  we go above and beyond to make those we love happy. Now making a 3 month old baby girl happy is pretty easy, the just make funny noises and talk to them and their whole world lights up. The idea of loving a child made me look into the idea for an advertisement. As I am trying to keep my blog funny and joyful I found a pretty funny commercial for Sprite where a Dad is allowing his daughter to cover him in makeup and dress him up with girly clothes. Clearly this father loves his daughter so much that he is letting her dress him up even before he has what seems like a business meeting. Let me know what you all think of the video and comment about a time you may have gone above and beyond for those you love!

Mr. Mom

As a father who is home with his daughter often, I am basically the equivalent of a stay at home dad who is also a full time student. Being as the mother is usually the one who stays at home making bottles, changing diapers, and other motherly tendencies are stereotypically not the job of a father. As Hadley approaches three months I have grown quite fond of this role and truly enjoy it. Media and society play off the role of Mr. Mom for comedy and use the idea that men are simply the money makers and women are the caretakers to spin this humorous image. I stumbled upon an ad for Glad Plastic Wrap which utilizes the idea of Mr. Mom. I think this commercial is pretty funny and can relate to it myself because I tend to find myself looking for short cuts to make parenthood more fun and a bit easier. Watch the ad I've posted and let me know what you all think!

Real Dad Moments

During my marketing class we recently had to analyze Super Bowl 2015 commercials. There were many memorable commercials such as Budweiser (of course), Doritos, and Snickers. One commercial that I do remember quite well, as my girlfriend was 4 months pregnant at the time, was the Dove Men commercial where they introduced the #RealDadMoments Campaign. This commercial displays dads playing with their kids, taking care of them when they are sad, being there for them during their most proud moments, and simply just being a good dad. This commercial had an incredible impact on society and myself. Watching it again while actually being a father takes it much closer to home and makes me want to spend every second I can with my daughter. It inspires me to be the incredible dad I know I can be for her. Dove chose to state that real dads are not just the men who work all day to provide for the family and then come home for dinner; real dads are the ones who spend every moment possible with their kids and create memorable experiences.

If you haven't seen the commercial before, I have posted it below! If you already have and need to freshen up on its message, give it another view! Please feel free to comment! Share your views and opinions with me on the subject. There is much more to come as I will be posting weekly and updating any interesting news.