Simple things that dads can do in parenting

“Second Mother”; a term we normally associate with grand-mothers or aunties. But it is not often that we associate this term with a father. Probably because traditionally a father’s primary role is to earn and provide for his family expenses and mother’s primarily role is run the family.

It raises a million-dollar question about the role of a father in parenting and the answer is revealed in the answer the husband provides; “My wife is pregnant” as compared to “We are pregnant”. This one sentence sets the foundation of the roles and responsibilities for father and mother in parenting.

But not all can belong to the hyper-involved, hands-on category of fathers. However, most can at least do a few simple things such as:

Can be the nappy changer and the one who takes the responsibility of making bed for the little soul

Be ready to spend sleepless night right beside the feeding mother to comfort the lady and the new born

When the time is right, be the one who is in the fore front in the weaning process, to assure a smooth transition from mother’s milk to baby foods. Over-worked mothers deserve a break after couple of years of stress and mental trauma of pregnancy. That is when the fathers can play an important role making sure healthy meal for kids are served on timely basis

A father is the best person to undertake the endeavor of home schooling before the formal education kicks-off. Shapes, colors, textures, counting, poems are just a few of the educational bits which a father can present to the infant in a playful format

There are so many mothers (especially home makers) who feel they have been caged since the child only eats, sleeps and plays with the mother. By a father doing his bit he is conditioning the little one in believing there is a world outside his/her mom

Father can be the face of the parent in a child’s school. Not only it helps in building a bond with the kid but also free up the mother to concentrate on her work and more importantly her life. At this stage child is no longer dependent on the mother for feeding and a little presence of Dad can do wonders. And not to mention be the one who
designs the yummy lunch box recipes for kids even if it’s the mother who plays the role of the cook

Can take up the responsibility of those weekend showers for the child and turning the boring bath sessions into a playful event by being a bit innovative

They can handle the creative side of the child’s birthday celebration and research for various ways to make this important event exciting

A father can always be in the hunt of those weekends activities and workshops which can boost a child’s knowledge & confidence

Last but not the least act as a role model for the kid since how the father interacts with his world has a great impact of how kids will interact with their world

Author: Parenting Expert , Team Mimmo.