Preparing for Changes

...and I'm not talking about diapers

Everywhere I turn people tell me that "once you have a baby everything changes." Can we get a more boring, blanket statement? I don't do well with the ambiguous, I need specific things that will inevitably change so I can prepare myself for them now. I like to be prepared, mentally and physically.

A friend of mine, Shane, was chatting with me back and forth via email and he finally gave me a little of what I was asking for, some hard truth. He laid it out there for me and as I suspected it was something that being privvy to it maybe I can start to make small changes now to lessen the blow later. What he told me was that the bulk of his weight gain happened right after his first daughter was born and it was simply the fact that all your schedules (sleep, food, work, etc…) are all screwed up. His advice was get a routine that works for you now. How I've expanded this in my brain (this is where my preparation comes in) is to identify my weaknesses and eliminate them or at the very least, control them. Since then, Shane has kicked it up a few notches and has been losing weight steadily and has found a new vigor, a new fire in his daily battle to get rid of the fat…meanwhile, Shane has dropped more pounds while welcoming a new baby. Between his wife and him, they've lost close to 100 pounds! That's amazing!

Then I was talking to my sister the other night and she was telling me about how hard it is when you need to make something quick for the kids and you end up eating it too. I'm assuming it was something like tater tots and fish sticks or something like that (at least that's what I envisioned). I didn't have much of a response at the time because, well… I hadn't really thought of that as being a problem. I'm sure I'll be faced with more and more "things" like this as I become a dad. I suppose that's what makes these parenting styles, right, everyone has one and no one's is as good as your own! The first thing I thought about after I hung up the phone with Diane was, "can't they just eat what you would fix quickly for yourself?" I know, I know…I have NO idea, and I oversimplify…but here's my dilemma. One of the problems that I've identified about myself is that I pretty much will eat whatever is near me. If we have it, I'll probably eat it. We buy chips every once-in-a-while for lunches, mainly Sally's lunch, and I can't help myself! On the other side of that, if we have a lot of fruit and veggies around…I eat that too. (I do have to interject…I have actually gotten better at just eating when I'm hungry and limiting my portions…it just sounds more desparate when I say I'll eat anything:)

I guess I have a lot to learn and even more to prepare for…and I suppose that's what being a parent is all about. That's probably why I won't get too many hard facts or too many specifics, right? There's too many to list and wouldn't it be like trying to tell someone all the changes you'll go through during your 20's? It's humbling already, but I'm ready for it!