This post sponsored by Target.

When my wife was pregnant with our first, I felt ready. I had read some books, my wife and I had discussed at length what we wanted our parenting style to be, we had registered for all the must haves at Target Baby and we had our house all set up. Well, mostly set up.

The day finally came. We had a beautiful healthy baby boy. Surrounded by nurses, doctors, family & friends at the hospital I have never felt so proud in my whole life. We were able to go home after a few days and thankfully our parents, who lived 12 states away, were able to stay with us for several more days. I hit the ground running and felt very comfortable being a dad.

Then it happened. One afternoon our parents said goodbye and left to return home. It was just the two of us and this tiny little baby. I had a mini panic attack. What if something went wrong? What if we couldn’t get our baby to eat? What if we couldn’t get our baby to stop crying? I didn’t realize how much the nursing staff at the hospital and our parents had been a mental safety net to me. I suddenly didn’t feel ready to be a dad at all. Continue reading Strollin to the River →