5 Types of People I Judged

{For just two weeks, we are handing over our computers to the men in our lives and turning this little piece of the world wide web into Houston Dads Blog!  Read along with their joys and their struggles, and find out why we are so very thankful to have these awesome dads in our lives.}

Today my wonderful husband Greg – who is the very best Daddy to our 2 little girls – is sharing a bit about how becoming a Daddy has changed him. In typical Greg style, he will make you laugh, just like he brings fun and laughter to our house every day.

On December 16, 2011 I had the miraculous privilege of holding my first daughter in my arms. That day changed the rest of my life. One specific area that changed was the way I viewed parents. I began to understand why parents treat their kids the way they do. Here are five types of people I secretly judged prior to having kids of my own.

1. Baby-Wearing Daddies

Prior to having children of my own, I recall seeing a dad at the grocery store with a baby strapped to his chest. My first thought was – “I wonder why that man’s two good arms don’t work.” Was this a medical device? Upon further inspection around the Pop-Tart aisle, I realized this device was intentionally strapped on and was some type of baby-wearing apparatus. Years later I proudly strap on our Baby Bjorn and toss our 7 month old in. Multitasking has never been so easy. Want to take care of a baby while washing the car or taking out the trash? No problem.

2. Sugar Enablers

Before kids I believed my child would only eat from the organic section. I envisioned them sitting at a 2-year-old birthday party politely declining that cavity-inducing, calorie-packed cupcake and saying, “No thanks, I will stick to my carrots.” Things change. These days when I place her low-fat smoked turkey, green peas, and fruit in front of her for lunch she says, “I want chocolate bunny.” Fail.

3. Nap Nazis

“Oh, you can’t go out to lunch because of nap time?” “Why are we planning our once a year vacation around nap time?” I previously thought my friends were missing out on some great opportunities in exchange for letting their kids nap. How important could this be? Now I understand how critical that hour or so of nap time can be and the effort that parents go through to make it a success. If my daughter goes to sleep in the car while driving, it is a delta team mission to get her into that crib without waking her up. This involves ninja-quiet unbuckling, shoulder hoisting, tip-toeing, hand signals to wife to turn on sound machine, locate blanket & baby, avoid that creaking board, and sneak out backwards while holding your breath so she doesn’t wake up. That was close.

4. Clutter Acceptors

“My house will stay spick and span even when I have kids, how hard can it be?” That’s what I told myself.   I was surprised to visit a friend’s house and find toys scattered throughout the house. “Was your house ransacked?” I thought. Fast forward 2 years, and I come home from work on some days and think our house was ransacked right after an F5 tornado touched down in our back yard. Some common questions I now ask my two-year old include, “How did this necklace end up in the bushes?” “Why is my Chapstick on the toilet?” “Have you seen daddy’s credit card?” “Is our car getting worse gas mileage because the number of Cheerios between the seats?”

5. Unceasing Photo Snappers

I remember my friends telling me that they take pictures and videos of their baby all day and then watch videos of him when he goes to sleep. Really? Don’t have you other things to do? Welp, I just checked my phone and 91 of the last 100 pics have my kids on them. Guilty.

Next time I think a friend is doing something strange with their kids I just may pay closer attention…chances are I will be joining them soon.