^ Take all parenting advice with a grain of salt, everyone's sample size is too low.
100% concur and well said!
^ Months 1-3 were my least favorite. A tiny infant is a sort of alien, and very fragile. Somewhere around 3-6 months they'll look at you and smile and your heart will melt.
Can't remember if it was 3, 6, 9 or 12 months but yeah. I've always told soon-to-be parents not to be surprised that it doesn't feel like a real person on day 1. And that the first 6-12 months are largely janitorial.
It's a 25 year (minimum) project. Make decisions and guide yourself patiently by the project's end goal of creating an intelligent, appreciative, caring, contributive and tolerant human being into this world. But like any long-term project, enjoy the journey, smell every rose and every stiff guinea pig or floating celestial goldfish along the way. Don't panic and crash - nor get overly enthusiastic about - any particular moment or new behavior or trend. You discover that the parenting story is an accumulation of a thousand phases of development. These phases, especially early on, can last as little as a couple of weeks. At onset, they create much anxiety in the new parent. But have confidence that they will always change into something new either more or less pleasing/frustrating. Certainly agree with the excellent sentiments shared above, reading, creating traditions, traveling. But consistency of discipline, values and emotions will always win in the long-term project goal. Just please don't be another parent who thinks their kids are the best, can do no wrong, and coddles the living shit out of future megalomaniacs. Other than that, should be a cake walk.
Popular Mechanics (and Science in 2nd place) were the best and most impactful tech magazines ever. Every issue answered your already existing questions about how a, b, or c works. It inspired and drove me to learn anything and everything I could about engineering, science, computers, logic, physics, etc. Not all of which I use on a daily basis, but it taught me to understand that tools, widgets and inventions are really the secret to making big and valuable things happen. It taught me to live and believe perhaps to a fault the Einstein quote "Strive not to be a success, rather strive to be of value." The feelings of receiving the latest PM magazine (and saving it until a Saturday morning to read and absorb from cover to cover, then again, and again to happy exhaustion) is an excitement and enthusiasm I doubt I'll ever experience again. Understanding how the rear differential worked originally, and then the limited slip differential upgrade, not only makes My Cousin Vinny one of the best movies of all time one of the best movies of all time, it makes you understand how awesome it is to understand. How is a torque converter different from a clutch? What is the difference bt super-charged and turbo? Why is super-charged better than turbo? Why is cool air better than warmer air in an internal combustion engine in the first place? What is lift? What are the three axes of rotation in flight? What happens to airflow and the airfoil surfaces when the speed of sound is achieved? If you aren't curious and need to know these things, you will probably never be an expert in your chosen sphere. Everything has an analogy, relationships, life, death, business, family. It all starts by understanding how things and people work.
Anyway, Pop Mec was the best ever. Miss it more than I can say.
100% concur and well said!
^ Months 1-3 were my least favorite. A tiny infant is a sort of alien, and very fragile. Somewhere around 3-6 months they'll look at you and smile and your heart will melt.
Can't remember if it was 3, 6, 9 or 12 months but yeah. I've always told soon-to-be parents not to be surprised that it doesn't feel like a real person on day 1. And that the first 6-12 months are largely janitorial.