The TriDad Life

We are now three weeks into this journey of being parents. Penelope Lynn crashed into our lives, and to be honest, we are loving it. Sure, not every moment is great, and schedules have become way less predictable, but it is all we thought it could be and more. We love this new thing – being Penny’s parents.

I started this blog to be an outlet for me, more or less. I love to write and my wife encouraged me to start a blog. At first, I found inspiration with just the idea of becoming a father, and now that it is a reality, I am feeling even more inspired to continue sharing my fatherhood journey.

When Penny came, it rocked my world in the best possible way. For a few days, like all new parents, Kayla and I could barely make up from down. Now that the dust has settled a little bit, we are learning how to live in this “new normal.” We both believe fully that this baby will bring out the best in us, and I already can feel that to be true in these early moments with Penny.

While in the lead up to Penny’s birth I had some trepidation about losing control of routine and priorities, I can see now that this is an amazing opportunity to reset my focus on what’s important. A fresh start, in a way.

My mantra right now is “keep it simple.” This is the best way that we can get through our day with a newborn that has basic but frequent needs that require our attention. What is interesting is that this attention has had a way of simplifying things in other aspects of my life – my interactions with colleagues, my approach with clients, task management, and just my overall use of time. I need to stay focused on a fewer number of things to maximize my time.

I know that this is a work in progress. We are currently still just in “survival” mode, but eventually I know I will want to be more intentional about tracking progress in professional and personal areas of my life that are important to me and my personal growth. I know my wife does, too.

For now, I’m just keeping it simple, tracking something very small but impactful. I am reading one daily entry from two thoughtful books. The first is “The Daily Dad” by Ryan Holiday, and the second is “One Minute Prayers for Husbands” by Nick Harrison.

That’s it, nothing more, nothing less. Two passages a day.

It takes not even five minutes to read the two passages, one from each book. I’m finding that with the unpredictability of when Penny will need me, particularly in the mornings, this bite size time to read something positive is very achievable, and it creates a discipline. I believe it will all start with this small but consistent step each day. With time, measurable growth and progress will come.

I’m keeping it simple, with these simple daily steps. The journey begins anew!