10 lessons from parenting that apply elsewhere in life

10 lessons from parenting that apply elsewhere in life

Of all the many challenges over the past year, none has been more rewarding and educational than the journey of fatherhood.

Recently, as I was spending time with my son, I thought about the many things I am supposed to teach him and realized how much he has already taught me.

Here are a few of those lessons:

  1. Preparation: Get the new diaper ready before you open the dirty one.
  2. Fortitude: Whatever is inside that diaper, you can face it.
  3. Redundancy: If you think you’ll need one diaper, bring three.
  4. Opportunism: When the diaper is open, he’s going to seize the moment.
  5. Commitment: No matter how often it gets dirty, or how dirty it gets, you’re always going to clean it.

I admit, I made myself laugh with these. But beyond the silly poo jokes, after 2020 and the rocky start to 2021, who doesn’t need a reminder about these virtues?

And, while I thought about it, I came up with five more lessons that are not related to diapers:

  1. Tenacity: Put your best cooking on the table over and over until he finally gives it a try. Even if it is rejected the first time, it could become his favorite.
  2. Interpretation: Sometimes you find new meaning from reading the same book over and over.
  3. Distraction: Even a baby knows when you’re looking at your phone and not at them.
  4. Creativity: Any toy can become something else when you’re not bound by preconceptions.
  5. Humility: Even the baby will sometimes outsmart you.