Becoming a Parent

in #news7 years ago (edited)

My daughter is still five months away from birth but things have already changed. The first shift was simply one of perspective. When you learn that you’re about to become a parent, you start to see things just a little bit differently. For some, this marks the time to start researching the subject of parenting but fortunately, I already did that. It’s a subject I’ve been keenly interested in for the past eight years and I know through every fiber of my being that I’m ready to ace the test. Actually, I wouldn’t call any of what I’ve felt “stress” at all. It’s been more of an uplifting motivation.

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There will doubtlessly be heaps of footage covering the adventure to come but in the mean time, here's the first glimpse of our new little client at only 9 weeks of age.

I set deadlines for myself all the time but this one’s different. It can’t be pushed back. She’s arriving in late December and I have to have things ready for her no matter what. I guess things are ready enough already but of course, I want to provide the ideal environment for her so I still feel driven to do better. This drive manifests itself in some interesting ways. It pushed me to look at things differently and come up with some interesting business concepts that I wouldn’t otherwise have thought of. One of these is absolutely game-changing and I can’t wait to share it with everyone but a few other steps have to be completed before I let that particular cat out of the bag. Suffice to say that a little extra kick in the ass and a slight change in perspective can make a monumental difference in how you plan the year ahead.

A lot of people are quick to cite the expenses incurred by children but to me, they pale in comparison to the value they can provide. I just think of it as an investment. If we approach it as a business with the parents cast as service providers that are investing in a single critical client, we can start to notice all kinds of ways to build win/win opportunities for all involved.

Historically, it was common for children to grow up and take care of their parents in their old age. To the parents, this investment plan relied heavily on mentally conditioning the children to remain loyal and available over a very long period of time. This incentivized them to have large numbers of children and indoctrinate them with superstitious beliefs regarding duty and honor within the family. In this day and age, those mechanisms have lost their effectiveness and the nursing homes are filling to the brim with discarded parents. I firmly believe that my "parenting as a service" business model is a sublime solution to this current condition and I eagerly look forward to proving it over the years ahead.

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We haven't picked out a name yet so feel free to drop suggestions below. We're aiming for something that's not so common that there will be others with the same name in town but also not so strange that it's difficult to spell or pronounce. She might very well pick a new one for herself at some point but it would still be nice to figure out a good placeholder in the mean time.

Thanks for sharing in our happy news and be sure to check-in from time to time as the story unfolds. I'm sure Tanisha will have plenty of parenting-related posts to share in time too so consider following her account if you're interested in that stuff.

Until next time!

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You could refer to her as 'a girl' and talk to her in third person until she tells you her name.

lol Believe me, I'd be totally down for that. Tanisha though... not so much.

Congratulations, Gabe! They change your life completely...in a good way.

Thanks, man! We're ready to rock :)

Congratulations! What an exciting time for you!! Having a child, your very own most natural creation in the world changes your life in more ways than imaginable. I'm a mother to a darling 7 year old and believe me, every day is still a learning day in terms of parenting!
Before you finalize on a name, try calling out the name aloud more than a few number of times to see how it sounds and imagine your child responding to it. If you still like the name, go for it! :)
Also, one more suggestion... sorry, I just can't seem to stop. Select very carefully a piece of relaxing music to play for your daughter and start playing it from now itself so she grows up listening to it in the womb. Believe me, once she is born, any time you want to calm her down/go to sleep, all you have to do is play that music again.
Wishing you and Tanisha a good delivery, a super healthy baby and all the joys of parenthood to follow! :)

Yeah, I like that approach. It's also very common for people to shorten the name in common use so I try to anticipate what the "short form" would be and consider it just as much as the full name.

I'm happy for you guys! For your baby and the drive you have to become a great parent.

I wish you all the best Gabe! All the best to all three of you :)

Until next time!

Thanks, man! Looking forward to seeing you next month!

I think

#Liberty

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Is a good name!!!!

You continue to be one of the most interesting people to me in the Liberty/Blockchain/Crypto space my man.

High power UV for you as usual and hope you have a great weekend.

lol It's raining now (still) but we'll make up for it in summer. The UV is stronger here than in most places so you can get your daily quota in a single leisurely stroll down the lane.

Wow.

I honestly hope we get to meet one day.

#BroHug

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lol

Liberty also a good name for a dog if you do not go that route for the offspring.

LOL

(:

Congrats, I'm sure you'll make an excellent father! You're certainly ahead of the game in terms of your perspective on parenthood.

Wishing you and Tanisha a healthy baby and safe delivery.

P.s. - I would suggest a name but comparing your handle to mine (which I made up on a whim), I'll back you to ace your child's name ahead of me!!

Hello, first, congratulations ! It's a great thing to become parents (hard as fuck, but great).

When they drop for the first time this tiny human in your hands, this is an awesome and fearful moment, but you will see, human nature is fascinating and parenting skill is in our nature.

I wish you all the best and for the name, good luck, it's so hard to choose only one :-)

Thanks cheapes, 'much appreciated. :)

Having a new born is a magical thing. I have a one year old toddler and still remember my pregancy and the birth . Magical moments !
Enjoy and Don't wory for the name you will fint out what suits her the best later on.
Upvote and follow

Congratulations!! You're in for one epic and life changing experience! I wish you, Tanisha, and the little one the best of everything!

Congrats and great ultrasound pic at 9 weeks! We're expecting our second I'm early December. Enjoy the name selecting process - we're still in the thick of it ourselves.

Becoming a father is the greatest opportunity to show the world what kind of person you really are. It sounds like you're stoked and ready for what lies ahead, and I'm so excited for you, man!

I have a four year old son, and @cryptomomma just had my second three weeks ago! We recently started a curation effort around amazing parents, and I'd love to invite you to tell us all about your journey to fatherhood by using the #steemdads tag! Parenting is a crazy, awesome, 24/7 job that literally determines the fate of another human being, and it doesn't get the credit it deserves when it's done right. We aim to change that.

If you want to chat with other parents, you can also join our new SteemParents Discord Channel!

Congratulations on your upcoming little girl!!

Thanks, man. I'll use that tag next time I write about the journey :)

Great post, and thanks for sharing. I agree that the first change that occurs when getting "the news," is a change in perspective. When i received word that I would become a father, I was about as selfish as they come. I saw the world only through my eyes, and I felt the world had to cater to me...I was 19 years old. Instantaneously ( though not permanently) i began to feel this sense of sharing and plurality. Then, when he was actually born, this way of looking at the world only intensified. A child doesn't care if you are sleeping cozily after a long day, if he/she needs something, then you will know about and it and have to disrupt your comfort to tend to the child's needs. In a way, the child forces you to think outside yourself. Selfishly speaking, it was the greatest lesson (and gift)I have ever received. Congrats, again.

I will share a pretty cool name, if it is a girl, but you can't tell anyone else because the its originality will deteriorate ...Imogen. Man, what a cool name.

Many Blessing to you and yours....one of my gifts is I am a Doula...you have greatest blessings to look forward too! blessed love!

wonderful. I think we'll be doing a homebirth so we'll be needing a midwife and/or doula too. You must meet all kinds of interesting people in your work.

Oh how lovely..home births are like no other.. as I have done hospital births as well ...but home births are very very magickal..I would recommend a midwife and a doula as midwifes usually don't show up until real movement begins..where as a doula is there months before the birth...and the moment you call on her/him till the very end and afterward...and yes..I have the honor of meeting truly beautiful and amazing people during one of the most profound moments of their life. blessings*

Eris...

"So, after all, there was not one kind of Strife alone, but all over the earth there are two. As for the one, a man would praise her when he came to understand her; but the other is blameworthy: and they are wholly different in nature. For one fosters evil war and battle, being cruel: her no man loves; but perforce, through the will of the deathless gods, men pay harsh Strife her honour due.

But the other is the elder daughter of dark Night (Nyx), and the son of Cronus who sits above and dwells in the aether, set her in the roots of the earth: and she is far kinder to men. She stirs up even the shiftless to toil; for a man grows eager to work when he considers his neighbour, a rich man who hastens to plough and plant and put his house in good order; and neighbour vies with his neighbour as he hurries after wealth. This Strife is wholesome for men. And potter is angry with potter, and craftsman with craftsman and beggar is jealous of beggar, and minstrel of minstrel."

That's definitely the right ballpark in terms of uniqueness vs simplicity.

Congratulations to both of you. Being a parent is really tough, but indeed very rewarding. Raising a family is the most wonderful thing to be a part of. Though it entails a lot of sacrifice, having a family is a blessing of a lifetime.

Thanks. I look at it as investment though, not sacrifice ;)

Awww, congrats! Huge milestone in life, in the beginning everything will turn upside down, but there is sweetness in that. People who don't have kids can't understand beauty of that burden, because let's be honest sometimes it will be, but the moment baby smiles it becomes life force which is pushing you to go forward. And for the name Una is simple and beautiful - means one and only in Latin, and if it's a boy Adrian.

This year I'll become a parent just like you: my daughter is supposed to born in December too (early December though).
I enjoyed what you wrote a lot. I have found it difficult to write about it, because it's something completely new for me. I was used to cover in my posts my projects, my plans, my ideas and so on, while now I feel like a baby is something completely different from everything I was used to write about and to experience in my life. It's something that I allowed to realize and that it's not just another project of mine, it's a project that extends from me... Hopefully, one day words will ripen to express my feelings.
For now, I wish you to enjoy the process!

Congratulations! I've been trought the same experience two years ago ;) I should say that parenting is indeed the ultimate enterprise. All the best.

Congratulation =) new member to steemit family <3

Congrats for your daughter thanks for sharing your thoughts and keep on posting ;)

Name suggestion: Steemian. Its feminine after all :)

lol We'll put that in the Maybe pile.

How about a post where people can vote on a name? You can always veto :)

we can gather suggestions here now and then maybe do a more intense name-focused post closer to the actual due date (winter solstice).

That would be pretty cool, the first blockchain inspired naming. It could work :)

Hahahahaha!

NO

lol

I think you're inspired - very inspired. You say you are going to present a Business model that involves "parenting as a service".

I am curious about that. When do u reveal that?

It is a shame as to Nursing homes. If you come up with something to even partially relieve that situation - and help keep #Families together longer, well I salute you.

Shall Follow you, and I Look forward to your updates on this

Thanks. I'll be discussing some aspects of the parenting platform over the next few months but I won't unveil the whole thing until a couple of my other projects are complete. Don't want to bite off more than I can chew, after all ;)

@piedpiper and @tmendieta, congrats on the upcoming addition to your family.

I have 5 wonderful children. Being a dad is hard work, but it is so worth it. My best advice is teach all you know so that they can leave you, but love them so well that they will always return.

Nice post, hope baby is all well and healthy! #keepsteemin
ely, elizabeth? :)

just make sure your wife does not drink that wine, she seems quite eager

lol The picture isn't that recent.

Nice post sir, I like your post good job.

Best of luck to you @piedpiper

gz @piedpiper and remember that the best education for your children is the one taught at home between the age of 1-7 years old. peace

Yup. I had a bug-out bag and wanted to leave home at 7.

Wow congrats...I've upvoted, resteemed and followed you😊

Firstly, congratulations! Secondly, our one twin chose her name really early on but twin B was nameless until she was 4 days old. Then suddenly she was Alyce and It wasn't even a name we had had on our list or even mentioned!
We like a few names like Luna, Amelia, Lyra, Kora, Atari, Askari, Eira, Agatha and of course, our other twin's name - Astryd :)

I like Lyra and Astrid. I'll add them to our list :)

Great post! Becoming a parent is a truly life changing event.
For my wife and I we had 2 names chosen for both our daughters when they were born...and on both occasions they 'looked' like one of the names more then the other.
Even so early on it is amazing how this connection can be made!

Congratulations again. Despite never intending to have children, for a girl I like the name Ariel.

Thanks, man. I grew up with The Little Mermaid and always liked that name too.