07/03/2024
Do you remember the first time you held your little one?
I remember it clearly for both of them.
Terrified to hold them, how to pick them up, where to put my hand… and relief that they were here and safe and their mum was ok too.
This picture was the first time I held both of my daughters at the same time.
Proud? Yes
Scared? A little
Prepared? More than I was the first time
Confident? Probably a little more than I should’ve been.
Those feelings we get in the early days are shaped by our expectations, our experiences, our knowledge and also our biology. Knowing I’d get more emotional due to drops in testosterone, and that prolonged crying might feel really difficult to manage for similar reasons would have helped me immensely back then.
And here we are - Dad Matters is supporting thousands of dads a year to understand these things and hundreds of dads a year with more targeted one to one support.
I have also learned that I should never ever shave again - NEVER!
Kieran
