Pints with Pops – August 2016

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This is the story I shared in August of 2016, I laughed reading through this one and also remembered that knowing that asking for support is not only ok but occasionally necessary:

“After last month’s blow out fiasco I was wondering what story will I share next month in my invite.  I’m learning very quickly that having a child, I will never be short of stories.  This month’s experience has to do with that same little chair thing mentioned last month.  Unsurprisingly, and some of you may have guessed already, another blow out, again while mom was gone.  I set Layton in his little chair so I could go get something accomplished, what it was I’m not sure, nor does it matter.  I came back not even two minutes later and the dog is sniffing the chair by Layton’s leg.  I got the dog away and saw a color that’s not part of the chair.  So, I go through the process of getting Layton out of the chair and rush him to the tub hoping not to get any on the carpet.  I run back to put the chair up off the floor and the dog is kindly assisting with the cleanup process.  I give him a good stare and he stares back knowing he did something he probably shouldn’t have and licks his lips… Seriously.  I need to write to Fisher Price about their chair‘s ability to cause infants to poop.  Be wary if you own one, you may be in for a messy surprise.  After getting Layton cleaned up the day didn’t get much better in terms of his temperament and Grandma/Grandpa were called for reinforcements.  I always hoped I wouldn’t need to call for help, but sometimes it gets to be very overwhelming not being able to calm a child.  Thankfully for me the grandparents are only a couple minutes away.  It was a good learning experience for me that it is perfectly acceptable to ask for assistance when taking care of my child.  That got deep fast, my apologies; however it is part of fatherhood.”

July 2016 Pints with Pops-4th of July Blow Out!

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Here is the story I shared in my July of 2016 email.  It’s a short one, but I think you’ll get a smile out of it.  Diaper blow outs aren’t as frequent these days, thankfully.  He actually lets us know when he wants his diaper changed which is pretty neat.
July 14th, 2016:  What would the 4th of July have been without a blow out?  At least that’s what I was thinking last Monday as I picked Layton up out of his little chair thing in the living room and noticed a massive blow out that managed to escape the top of his diaper, through his shirt and onto the fabric chair (luckily the cover is machine washable).  I should have known to expect something when my wife said “it sounded like he was pooping” as she headed out the door to pick up a pizza for dinner.  After I picked him up and saw the aftermath of “it sounded like he was pooping” I thought to myself “she knew”.  Maybe some of you have been through this, maybe something different, or maybe not at all; but, you’re probably sitting there smiling knowing that some other guy went through it.

 

Welcome to Pints with Pops!

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In June of 2016 I decided to stop talking about creating an opportunity for dads to talk about “dad stuff” and start Pints with Pops.  Each month since then I organize a monthly “gathering” for dads to get together and talk about what’s going on in their fatherhood world.  In addition to organizing the gathering I share one of my fatherhood stories from the past month with everyone on my email list.  My story from September of this year received a tremendous amount of positive and encouraging feedback so I decided it was time to bring my stories to the masses.  Below is the first email that went out in June of 2016.  I’ll post each of my monthly stories until I’m up to the present day.  I hope I can bring you smiles and laughter, things to think about, and the knowledge that a lot of things happen in fatherhood, good and bad, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

“Pints with Pops is an opportunity for fathers to get together and talk with other dads about their experiences of fatherhood; the joys and frustrations. 

Three months ago I became a father, welcoming Layton Francis to the world.  That was the most amazing experience of my life.  What I didn’t realize was how amazing his vocal chords were and that children aren’t able to comprehend what a parent is telling them at that young of an age (I hear this changes to “children choose not to listen to what a parent is telling them” as they get older).  This led to me realizing I have very little tolerance of crying and not being able to communicate effectively with him.  Voicing my frustrations to my wife in one ear with the baby screaming in the other wasn’t helping our relationship.  I decided I needed someplace to talk about how I was feeling otherwise it was going to be difficult for me to continue being a positive influence on my son.  I’m not one of those guys who can just suck it up and deal with it, I like to talk about things.  Thankfully a friend of mine was willing to listen and Layton is grateful for that.  This got me thinking about all the other dads out there though; I couldn’t be the only guy who needs to talk about the frustrations of fatherhood, could I?  I brought the idea of Pints with Pops up with several other dads I know in different stages of fatherhood (some even grandfathers) and also some moms.  The response was overwhelmingly positive.  So, here we are with the first gathering of Pints with Pops on the calendar. 

Many of you on this email I’ve talked with about Pints with Pops and of you I ask for you to show up and/or encourage a dad to come.  Those of you I haven’t talked with about this, I ask for you to have an open mind about the idea and either come and talk with others about being a father or encourage a dad you know to come.

The design and intention of this is to be extremely casual.  There will be no name tags, presentations, or a circle of us stating our names and that we’re dads.  Being a dad myself, I wouldn’t want something that formal.  In my experiences with other dads they prefer casual, laid back settings, so that is what this will be.  The expectation; however, is that if you attend you are there to talk about your experiences as a father with other fathers, not how the Packers draft went or how the Brewers are playing.  There is no time limit on the evening or expectation on how long you hang out, whatever you’re comfortable with is what is appropriate.  No RSVP is necessary. If you can make it, great; if not, hopefully we’ll see you at a future gathering.”