Papa bear and his (steadily growing) Cub

After my first “blog” or whatever you would call it, I wanted to write another a few months later. My son Jase, just turned 9 months old last week and in the time from the last time I wrote about my little tater bug until now, some things have changed (mostly good!).

 

I was lucky enough to have a close friend that was able to sell me a Kinderpack at a good price and also was EXTREMELY lucky to win a Boba 3G organic off of Bobas website. I guess I unintentionally shy away from wraps for two reasons. 1.) I know its dumb but they don’t have a ton of affordable “boy/guy” color combos (or at least that I've seen), and 2.) I had so much trouble with the Moby wrap that I think I would have a lot of trouble with a woven. I'm not sure whether either of these statements are true but I guess that’s just how I feel at this particular moment.

 

 

That being said, I will say that I wear my Kinderpack and my Boba all the time and my son and I could not be happier. I think that wearing my son and not really caring what anybody else thinks has been one of the best things that I've been able to do as a father. I get all kinds of looks in the store and malls etc, and even comments from my friends but I sluff all of them off (as I watch their kids run around and break stuff) and think to myself “Thank god I chose to babywear”.  It helps so much in everyday life and the SSC is very comfortable and my son falls asleep in it all the time. I admit that the bubbles pattern might not be, in a manner of speaking, the most masculine print available but it was a well taken care of carrier at a good price and the safety of it matters more than the print to me.

 

 But honestly I get more positive feedback from people saying things like “ well, now that’s a cool carrier thing, where do you get one of those?” Which opens the door for me to totally overdo the next few minutes of conversation by totally feeding them a TON of info about baby carriers that I'm pretty sure they didn’t want to know in the first place. I'm a good story teller (just ask Kim Williams-Harris or her husband Luke) and I'm a fisherman, so I guess you could say I was born to talk J. But when I see something that I know is beneficial to all involved and I am passionate about whatever subject that may be, I go to maiming and killing to convince others as well.  (Kidding!)

 

 

I will say that in the past few months that I have seen the number of baby wearing daddys increase (sadly not as much as I would like) but it is increasing so I can't complain. I know that people like Somer and CJ and others have forwarded on my first blog in the hopes that it might help some shy or prideful daddy to babywear. That makes me happy and if my first writing helped even one dad to strap on their little one and charge into a store like a stormtrooper then it was well worth the (very little) effort.

 

Let me just send an observation to any dads that are just starting to wear or even remotely considering to wear. Do it. It truly is fantastic. The first time your child is in your carrier and he/she lays their head down to go to sleep on your chest and then falls asleep, you'll realize that that is one of the greatest feelings you've ever felt. I feel closer to my son than ever before when he does it.  You might get a strange look from some older person or a rude comment by someone who is ignorant of such new fangled things like this but just remember that these are the same people that didn’t like power steering and power brakes. So its not that they don’t like the carrier or you, they just don’t like change, and that’s ok.

 

For you dads who wear, Awesome! Keep it up for as long as possible! Even if you wear 5 times a year, your still doing better than the status quo. I want all guys everywhere to be as passionate as I am about babywearing because all health benefits aside, it makes me feel good about being me! I can't tell you the number of times I've had women of all ages come up and commend me for being such a caring daddy. Being a dad is the greatest thing ever in my life and I don’t do it for commendation or peoples attention or for any kind of kickback. But I will say that it feels good anytime someone tells me that I'm doing a good job.

 

To the ladies of the BWAT group, and all the others that I've come in contact with who babywear, Thank you for making me feel like im a part of something great. You all have been wonderful and keep it up!

 

Keep calm and carry your kids!

 

-- Jake



 

 

P.S. if any of you ladies husbands want to friend me on facebook, have any questions that they would prefer to ask a guy about etc…. do not hesitate to let me know. I'd love to help be a part of another daddy learning the awesome benefits of baby wearing!


Join Jake and others in his Facebook parenting group Parents of Great Kids.