Nipple Confusion, Uncoordinated Pooping, and Spittle
The Life of a Newborn's Father
by
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When you have a baby, everything moves down one giant notch on your list of priorities. That thought crossed my mind as I sat on my bed, baby in my arms, and noticed that I was covered with a combination of baby vomit, baby urine, and baby poop … and I didn’t really mind. Not long ago, I was happily neurotic—alphabetizing my CDs, balancing my checkbook to the penny, and arranging my shirts by style and color. Now, none of those things seems quite as important. CDs not only have abandoned their alphabetical order, they aren’t necessarily even in their proper cases anymore. I found Sarah McLachlan in the Barenaked Ladies case, and I didn’t even cringe. My shirts are blended together in the closet willy-nilly. My checkbook still works out to the penny, but I no longer rush to open my monthly statement as if it’s some monthly Christmas present for the anal-retentive. Suddenly, making sure that this tiny little person is as comfortable as possible, taking time to watch her sleep, helping Jessica around the house so she has as little stress as possible in her dealings with Leah—they’re all much more important than anything else I used to care about.
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About the Book
For new babies, there are the first-year milestones that everyone talks about—baby’s first smile, first steps, and first words—and then there are all the firsts that everyone conveniently forgets to mention. The first time you find yourself hanging around the baby store parking lot, waiting for the doors to open so you can make an emergency breast pump purchase. The first time you discover that girls, too, can shoot pee across the changing table when you’re least expecting it. And the first time you discover baby poop smeared on your tie moments before you need to leave for work (and it was your wife, not you, who changed the poopy diaper). It's not surprising that firsts like this leave you feeling like you're on your own as a new father, and that perhaps you should have skimmed one or two of your partner's what-to-expect books that appeared everywhere around the house over the course of her pregnancy. With Nipple Confusion, Uncoordinated Pooping, and Spittle: The Life of a Newborn's Father, Roger Friedman wonderfully captures all of his daughter’s firsts in an often humorous, sometimes poignant, and occasionally grown-up manner. It’s an enjoyable, honest account of the confusing, terrifying, and downright messy world of parenthood.
About the Author
Roger Friedman never meant to write a book. Friedman has written for dozens of publications. He is dean of learning and development at The Motley Fool, armed with a mission to educate, amuse and enrich. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and two dogs, and—gasp—three wonderful children.