Smoothing the road ahead

Getting into the groove
Your life should is now starting to stabilize after receiving the big news. The news of being father has been spread to the important people in your life and you have started to come to grips with the news yourself. Now that you are back on solid ground, there are some things that you are going have to start doing, and some things you are going to want to quit.

Time you learn some new skills
There are a few skills you are going to need to learn to make the road to fatherhood smoother. For instance, you are going to have to learn how to do some small things around the house. Some of these skills will make your house a better/safer place to live, while others will be for the sole purpose of keeping your wife healthy and happy—luckily some of these will be able to fill both criteria. These tasks include, but are not limited to

• Developing handy-man skills
• You are going to need to be able to tackle small manual labor projects around the house using power tools. 
• Learn to cook 
• This is a big one. If you can learn to cook healthy dinners for you and your family, this will undoubtedly make your wife a happier person and help both of you live a little healthier. I cannot stress enough about how important it is for you to learn how to cook. 
• Develop a silver tongue 
• As covered in my last posting, your wife is going through some tough emotional/hormonal stress. Always be ready with a compliment about how beautiful she looks. This will make life better for you both. 

The most important thing is to be attentive to your wife’s needs. This attentiveness, above anything else you can do, will help this pregnancy out.

Time to stop with the bad habits
You know what your bad habits are better than anyone else. You should also know that bad habits can be easily learned by a small child. Now is the best time to buckle down and wean off of them. If you do any of the following now is the time to quit:

• Smoking
• You are an adult. I do not need to tell you about the dangers of smoking. I am an ex-smoker, so I know how hard it is to quit. But remember your life is not your own any more. Anything that you exhale, your child will inhale. Quitting now will allow you time to kick the habit for good. Once the habit is gone, you will not have to go outside to get your nicotine fix while your wife is in labor.
• Expecting your wife to cook
• As mentioned earlier, you are going to need to learn how to cook now. Your wife may not be feeling well or may just be exhausted. It will be a treat for both of you if you were able to let her sit and relax while you took care of dinner.
• Reckless activities
• Use common sense when engaging in certain activities. If something seems like it might be dangerous, it probably is and most likely is not worth doing. You want to be around to see your child grow up after all. 

This is not a complete list, but it definitely hits some of the big spots. You can always use this line of judgment: If you do not want your child to pick up a certain habit from you, then maybe you should quit so they do not learn it from their biggest role model.