Why does being a dad rock? #ThanksBaby for these reasons and more

I partnered with Life of Dad and Pampers for this promotion. A politician once said, there are known knowns and known unknows.  That’s a riddle, parable for parenting and political babble all mixed up in one. With Father’s Day upon us it’s time to say #ThanksBaby for making us dudes into people who we otherwise wouldn’t be.

Prior to being a father I was just a guy trying to figure things out. Even after our first son was born I didn’t know what I was doing. Now that our second born is five I feel like I know more than I did the first time, but we’re dealing with an entirely different person, so things are different. Two years from now I’ll look back where I am currently and willingly acknowledge that I didn’t know anything.

For us, being a dad is accepting that I don’t know anything about some topics, know everything about something and need to learn as quickly as possible about others.  It’s the ability to have a poker face, while at the same time telling the person you’re speaking with why it is what you’re saying-at the same time you might be doubting it.

Being a dad is a mental exercise that doesn’t stop until the small people go to bed and even then they pepper you with questions. Many a night during bedtime, when the kids were younger, my wife or I had walked in whilst the other was sitting down fast asleep. The child was happily chatting away, reading a book or had already gone into the other room to let the parent who wasn’t sleeping know that whoever had bedtime duty was being too much of a method actor.

It’s odd, but as a dad I’m thankful for those ugly moments. They’re included in the tapestry that has somehow created this fabulous little person that is a mix of me and my wife. I know that they won’t remember some of them, but to my wife and I they are hilarious, w hitch makes our relationship stronger.

The imperfect parenting moments are the ones that make families laugh. The over reactions, mishaps, bad Christmas gifts, movies that you see over and over, as well as the emotional extremes make the highs of being a dad that much higher.

If you’re thinking about having children but on the fence because it’s hard work, then don’t have children. It’s hard work being a parent. If you’re a working dad, stay at home dad, divorced dad, widowed dad or military dad it’s hard and I don’t have you tell you that. There is also an incredible thickening of the skin that happens in the process. What was difficult is now easy. The lows never seem that low and highs are even higher.

I was happy before being a dad, but now I’m happier. Is that because I’m responsible for two small people, have a great marriage or just love being a dad? I’ll gather that it’s a combination of all three, so #ThanksBaby for making it possible and I look forward to the next chapter.

A big #ThanksBaby to babies that love animals and for making a house a home. @Pampers #ad pic.twitter.com/ss2JxvGK1v

— Trey Burley (@Daddymojo) June 17, 2017