Dad Blogger Round-up: Housedads, pushchair blankets and the terrible twos

This month, our manly focus falls on dads of very young ‘uns. They’re very easily identifiable: deep, dark suitcases underneath their eyes; prone to extreme irritability and falling asleep in public; stinking of milk and baby sick. Ah, those were the days – it’s making me quite wistful. NOT! Fellas, if it helps, it does get easier. All you need to do is find a pub and sit in it until the kids reach 18 and leave home.

Scottish newbie dad David’s It’s A Dad’s Life blog recently reported that he has just joined the ever-growing ranks of the housedad. ‘Tis a noble thing he doth do, but he be dothing it very well (sorry, I’ve just been to the dentists and my mouth’s a bit numb). Anyway, as I know only too well, this housedad malarkey requires nerve, guile, strategy and humongous balls, which I’m sure David has in spades. Check out his ongoing progress on his blog.

Meanwhile, over at one of my favourite blogs, Goodbye Pert Breasts, Ben Wakeling has been musing about the horrors that can lurk beneath many a pushchair blanket. Yes, The Ugly Baby. We’ve all seen them. We might even shamefully possess one ourselves. It is time they were held up and shown to the world, so that the world can hail: ‘Urgh, can’t you put a paper bag over its head? Or perhaps the parents just need a smack? Speaking of which, Ben explores the issue of smacking in this quite brilliant post, My Daddy Hurts Me. Where do you stand on the smacking debate?

Moving swiftly on to a man in desperate need of our support and sympathy, the self-styled JallieDaddy and author of his WhiskeyForAftershave blog. Our man is the proud dad of twins. But right now our man is not just afraid, he is VERY afraid – for his twins have just turned two. The terrible twos. Double trouble looms. I suspect he’s going to need that whiskey for a lot more than aftershave in the months ahead.

Do you feel lucky? Well, do you, punk? Tom Briggs, the super-talented dad behind Diary of the Dad does. A while ago he was forced to touch an old lady. Yes, forced. But only on the hand, so no need to call the police. She said if he stroked her in the right way, he’d find luck. Well, old ladies have said the same thing to me, too, but no good ever came of it, believe me. But Tom is blessed. Find out how his fortunes changed after his tactile encounter of the senile kind.

Anyway, I will move on to the post that reminds me of a joke – The Tooth Hurts from First-Time-Daddy. His boy Benjamin has just got his first peggy and it is making his parents glow with pride, as it should. Now I’m off to get my tea-stained incisors knocked out by the fella who lives across the road.

Last but not least on this month’s round-up, a special word for one of the nicest blokes and most pioneering dads you could ever wish to meet – Dean from Daddy Natal. He’s the founder of the country’s only advice, support and counselling service for new dads and dads-to-be. If you’re soon to be a dad, or have just become, check it out. Everything you need to know is right there. This post – A Mum and Dad’s Birth Story – gives a compelling insight into the bewildering experience of becoming parents.

About Keith Kendrick

In July last year, my wife and I swapped roles after I was made redundant. I made hundreds of attempts to find another job as a manager but failed, so my wife gave up being a full-time mum and went out to work. I started writing my blog as a chronicle of life-change and how I cope with being a very reluctant housedad to my nine-year-old stepdaughter and our two sons, aged six and three, and how my Successful Other Half copes with the fallout.