For episode 93, we offer 55 Tips For New Dads. You don’t have to go on this journey without information. Study these tips and be prepared for the road ahead of you. 1. Get sleep when you can 2. Talk about expectations before the baby arrives – expectations for the baby and each other 3. Buy butt paste for the baby – Use it at every changing 4. Put your baby at an angle, not flat….while sleeping, resting, eating 5. You may have trouble bonding with the baby for a while…could be months. 6. Go on dates with your wife – You or she mnay not even want to, but do it anyway 7. Always have wipes handy 8. Always carry an extra diaper, or two 9. Join a dad’s group such as Dudes To Dads – talk about issues you are facing 10. Hold your child as much as you can 11. Don’t judge her day against yours if she stays home with the baby – You will not win 12. When your child smiles at you for the first time, you won’t believe how amazing it feels 13. When they say “dad” or “dadda” for the first time, you’ll wish you could bottle up how that feels. It’s even better than the smile. 14. Get to know your pediatrician – You will probably be calling them a few times even when you don’t need to 15. If people want to give you used clothing take it. They grow out of things so fast. 16. Try to get yourself in the pictures and video with your kids – We often take pictures and videos of them but try to get yourself in the shot. It’s much more meaningful down the road. 17. Create memories rather than getting gifts 18. …   I just released my Free Webinar, 6 Proven Strategies to Be a Better Father. This is a free 1 hour online class. Take your Dad Skills to the next level! Reserve Your Spot.

One of the items in the last episode about fighting depression with gratitude was to switch a negative thought you might have into a positive. I wanted to broaden this concept and apply it to our kids for this episode 92. It is really important for our children to hear what they are doing right. Focus on the good things your child does, not the things they aren’t doing. For most of my career, my job was to find the mistakes that companies are making in their online marketing or business operations and fix them. I have trained myself over years and years to find the things that aren’t working. This is a dangerous skill to bring to your personal life. If you are routinely looking at what doesn’t work in your relationships or with your kids, you will continue to find things that don’t work and be focused very much on the negative. Sure it can be helpful to find things not going well and try to fix them, but you are still constantly looking at what is in front of you as broken. Our kids are not broken. I admit I am guilty of this. For example, in our house when I come home from work, the first things I see are toys, clothes, or other items that are on the floor or not where they are supposed to be. I can’t even count the number of times the first thing out of my mouth is “why is your toy in this room on the floor? Where does your jacket, shoes, backpack, doll, or whatever supposed to go? This is a constant theme in our house. These words may even come out of my mouth before I say “hello” or “how was your day?” I’m going to guess …

Let’s face it, as a dad (or any human for that matter) you have good days and bad days. For those that seem to have more bad days than good, this episode is for you. Now I am not a doctor so I am not providing medical advice. This may not be the answer for someone with severe depression or a serious illness. For that you will want to seek mental attention. What I am proposing is a way to get you out of your funk. We talked about teaching our children gratitude in episode 80. The most important way to teach your children gratitude is to model it yourself. When you are in the midst of feeling crappy, it can be extremely difficult to see the light and imagine what it is like to feel good. Whether you are having problems in your relationship, your kids are driving you crazy, your job isn’t going well….whatever it is, I ask you try fighting the depression with gratitude. I can tell you first hand that this has worked for me. Here are some things you can do to begin feeling gratitude. We can start with baby steps: 1) Go buy a journal or a notebook. 2) When you wake up in the morning ask yourself, what is one thing in my life that I am grateful for? You must write down “I am grateful for ______ and be sure to include because. For example, I am grateful for my family because they love me unconditionally. If you have problems thinking of something, then write down that you are breathing, that you had an opportunity to sleep, that you have a roof over your head, that you have food in the house. It only takes one positive thought to begin getting on …