I Have A 2 Month Old–Here’s The Most Important Thing I Learned As A Dad

I used to roll my eyes every time one of my friends used their baby as an excuse to leave somewhere early. Or use their kid as an excuse not to go out. We would think people were so dramatic when they complained about not having enough time to do laundry. Or to even shower.

Dramatic. They were all dramatic I would think.

My wife and I joke all the time when people ask us how it is going being new parents.

We respond by saying: "we usually do 3 things"

1.) We burp our baby
2.) We change our baby
3.) We eat our own words.

We eat our own words because we used to think everyone used their new baby as an excuse for everything. Going out. Leaving early. Anything.

But, now I get it. I am that guy.

The past four weeks all of my friends try to get my to go out during the week or to some event on weekends and I've been saying 'no' most times. The few times that I have gone out somewhere, I use our son as an excuse to come home.

But, I get it now. It's not even an excuse--I just want to come home and see him. I've become everyone that I used to criticize.

The biggest thing I learned though, and find myself realizing: is that nothing else matters. It's like you have a kid and suddenly, every instinct to become a parent kicks in and there is nothing that is more important than my wife and kid.

It doesn't matter if you say no to your friends going out. You don't even care that you're missing anything.

All the small things you would sweat don't matter.

People's over-the-top opinions on just about anything, do not matter.

The friend or relative who is driving you nuts all the time suddenly isn't a big deal.

It doesn't matter if you tell work you can't make the meeting. (Honestly, I realized that I was working too much and that your job is not even important in the grand scheme of things except for providing for your family.)

It's okay to say no to things.

Having our first kid has made me realized: nothing else matters than who is between those 4 walls of my house when I wake up every morning. That's what I've learned. So if you don't have a baby yet and you think other parents are nuts sometimes. Don't worry....you'll get it one day.

It doesn't even matter anyway.