Dex:

First, welcome to the site, and congrats on your impending stay-at-home dad status. You're gonna love being at home watching your baby do incredible things and love you no matter what you do or say (or even if you play the Butthole Surfers in your car while driving around with your baby).

Read through this site, as it is chock-full of great advice about any and all things you could want to know about sleep habits, teething, cleaning up vomit, playing, reading to your baby, dealing with the general public, etc. So much good information here.

Other than that, my advice is to be patient, don't get too worked up on expectations, because every baby is different and you'll figure out quickly enough what your little boy or girl is all about, what he/she likes, doesn't like.

You're gonna have a great time. I hope you have the full support of your family and friends, as some on this site don't and it gets difficult for them. Just remember to be yourself, and pay no mind to people who question your decision to stay home.

Dave, full-time child roadie for Owen and Amelia
www.davebrigham.com

Forge your own path. They're your kids, not ours, and only you can decide what what's best for them. This honesty isn't rocket surgery, so don't sweat it. If at the end of the day your kids are still breathing and you don't feel the urge to climb a clock tower and start picking people off, then you're doing it right.

-Will
gamingwithbaby.com | all your diapers are belong to us
my flickr
BRING BACK THE IRRELEVANCE!!!!

Hey Dex,
Welcome aboard and congrats. Your father to be check list should include:
1. A moment of pause in the bathroom. Say aloud to yourself. "Ah I'm alone."
2. Read a book. This will get harder as you go.
3. Catch up on you movie going.
4. Spontaneously leave the house for something, doesn't mater what, but say, “I think I'll (blank)” then leave the house. Remember how that feels.
5. Check you local Library for story times and fun kid stuff.
6. Stop by the police to make sure your car seat is in correctly.
7. Pack your “Nashville Pussy” t-shirt away for another day. (If applicable.)
8. Rent “Mr. Mom”
9. Get a good cook book.
10. Find out who will deliver what to your house. Groceries etc.
11. Get ready to experience love in all its forms.
12. Watch every glorious moment as you child grows.
13. Repeat steps 1 and 4.

Best wishes mate. This is a hard gig but it’s like nothing else.

Be Seeing You.

Make sure you keep your sanity and identity like New No. 2 and Gaming say. You are DAD not MOM. Don't freak out at every little thing - on the other hand, if something doesn't seem right, check to make sure. Don't spend your time with your kid wishing you were doing something else - be fully present with them, you'll enjoy it a lot more.

Every kid that follows the first will be easier and you'll take a fraction of the video and pictures that you do with the first.

Gettin' creative at CreativeDad.net

All I can add to this great advice is...get some exercise! You don't have to go to the gym every day and try to benchpress an elephant or anything like that, but I have made this mistake with my first and am making it again: (I went back to work for a while between the two births.) My job involved a fair amount of physical labor, and I ate too much even then. But now that I'm less active, I haven't changed my eating habits and now I'm getting almost as fat as I always thought I was in high school but really wasn't. It's not that I'm worried so much about my looks - I didn't have much in that department to begin with (and please, no armchair shrinks beating me down about my self-image! I've had enough!) But I'll be 40 on my next birthday, so my health is a major concern. I want to be there to give Baby Jacqueline away at her wedding. So for starters, I take her for a walk around the neighborhood once a day. I know it's not near enough, but you gotta start somewhere. So just determine that you're going to put your body through SOME kind of physical routine every day. And maybe add to it over time. Good luck!

So why don't they call it mooching when the wife stays home?

I almost forgot some VERY important things that I learned the hard way.

1. Don't forget if the sippy had juice or milk in it. If you accidentally get one in the other without scrubbing them first... it will curdle.
2. You can always put yourself in a "time out". There's nothing wrong with taking a few minutes to yourself.
3. Two words for ya... Netflix and Dustbuster. I'm dead serious.
4. Always remember, it's not a job. It's the greatest opportunity in the world. You will be able to spend more time with your kids in a month than most men do in a year.

Hey thanks guys. I really appreciate it.