^{Originally published on BabyCenter.com April 13, 2013}

Earlier this month, my wife and I got this picture of a new jelly-bean sized critter currently taking up residence in her uterus.

^{Originally published on BabyCenter.com March 27, 2013}

If you look at popular media from a generation or two ago, you see men who are largely removed from the birthing process. There are images of expectant fathers pacing in the waiting room or, in times long past, chain smoking at the hospital. Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising to us, then, that there are a number of fathers-to-be that don’t plan to be in the delivery room during their child’s birth.

^{Originally published on BabyCenter.com March 22, 2013}

The worst day of my parenting life came about a year ago when my wife and I found out that our son had lead poisoning. All I could think of at the time was, “We just screwed up our son’s life.” Fortunately, that wasn’t true.

^{Originally posted on BabyCenter.com March 8, 2013}

You know what can be fun? Taking a 10-hour road trip with a toddler.

No, seriously. It can be…as long as you’re prepared.

^{Originally posted on BabyCenter.com February 22, 2013}

Books are one of the truly great things in life. Yes, there is lots of newer media crowding them out these days, but a good book is still better at unlocking the imagination and building language skills than anything else out there.

Reading to my son is probably the biggest thing I looked forward to as a dad. I started reading to him while he was still in utero and now make sure to give him a bedtime story each night. One thing I learned quickly is that bedtime stories don’t have to always be kids’ books.

When you’re reading with a child during the day, it’s good to have something with simple words and lots of pictures, but when you’re winding down at night, just about anything goes. (Well, almost anything – it is my personal opinion that reading Stephen King’s It can probably wait until puberty, at least.)

^{Originally posted on BabyCenter.com June 7, 2018}

Seven years into this parenting thing, I still don’t know how to strike the right balance with anything. Am I too hard on them or too lax with discipline? Do I give them a suitable number of presents or do I spoil them? If there’s one thing I’m sure about, it’s that I overthink things.

This week’s lesson in self-doubt comes from my son’s birthday. By now, he knows the drill: for several days on end, every friend of ours he meets will give him a present of some sort. And I’m sitting here trying to temper his excitement by focusing on that old nugget, “It’s the thought that counts.”

^{Originally posted on BabyCenter.com on January 25, 2018}

I’m not an expert when it comes to the clinical side of depression. I’m just one of the millions who have to deal with it on a fairly regular basis. Because I focus so much on my kids’ well-being, I sometimes forget to take time out for myself. That’s when depression catches up.

^{Originally posted on BabyCenter.com October 20, 2016}

Men have it easy during labor, because we’re not the ones with a human being forcing its way through our innards and out our nether regions. Of course, we still have to watch our loved one go through that process, and if we’re not careful we sometimes get smacked in the head.