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#6 Way to be an Awesome New Dad: Set Clear Expectations and Follow Through Consistently

"You won't be able to enforce your expectations until your child is older, but the process will likely become one of the most enduring rules in parenting over time. One of your jobs as a dad is to protect and train your child, and even if it never really seems like it, kids crave structure. As your baby grows old enough to understand "yes" and "no," make sure those words have meaning. Let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no. Let your "I will" become "I did." You're not perfect, but now you've got a little adult watching you to see if the rules even matter."

I'm not sure what to think about this one. I can guarantee that the word 'no' is going to be hard for my husband to use. He never uses it now! He just doesn't know how to say no to people. Anytime anyone asks his for help, he is always right there. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad trait, but sometimes you just have to say no!

My husband is very patient so teaching these words won't be a problem. The problem will be enforcing. I have always been the disciplinary in the family. I'm the one who yells at the Lab for begging while my husband is laughing because he thinks the begging face is cute.

I do think that we both believe in a firm set of rules, though. My parents had rules and they were enforced. Bed times, curfews, chores; I had these rules growing up and my children will too. My husband didn't really follow any rules growing up. He made his own rules. He now knows that's bad and I expect him to enforce the rules just as I will.

I can't wait to have this little monster because I just think that my husband is going to be such a great Dad! We find out in 3 days what we have cooking in here and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's a girl!

Update: I'm not going to post my update until Monday after our appointment so I can spill the beans on the little monster and post the first baby bump picture. I do want to share an update on the house we were looking at. Unfortunately, the bank took too long approve the loan and the house was sold before we could even put an offer in on it.

Talk about some epic disappointment! My husband and I are devastated and even though we have been looking for other homes to suit us, we just haven't found anything as perfect as that house. So, we are stuck in our little house for now. I hope that we can find something we like better but it's not looking good so far.

Next Topic: #7 Way to be an Awesome New Dad: Strive to be an awesome dad
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