Raising Kids -- Surprisingly Smart Parenting Tips for Dads and Moms

Hats off to these smart parenting tips for new mums. Here they go (emphasis mine):

1. You won't need half the crap that you bring to the hospital with you. And it will be a pain in the butt to carry it all home.
2. There are tons of stupid baby gadgets out there. Don't get suckered into things like baby wipes warmers, knee-pads for crawlers, etc.
3. It will be much harder than you ever expected, and so much more rewarding than you ever expected.
4. Let your partner help. Insist that your partner helps.
5. Even with a newborn, you need time alone. Give the baby to your partner, a grandparent, anything, and get out of the house for an hour, ALONE! Get a pedicure, buy a book, or just go grocery shopping by yourself, at least once a month.

Source: What advice would you give to a new mum about raising kids? at Yahoo! Answers

What I like most about these tips is that it says, "Let your partner help. Insist that your partner helps." This is a cool call for husbands (like me) to help in parenting, isn't it?

So now we turn to Dads for some tips on how to help.

A site suggests eight ways that both Dad and Mom can bond with the child together:

1. participating together in labor and delivery
2. feeding (breast or bottle); sometimes dad forms a special bond with baby when handling a middle-of-the-night feeding and diaper change
3. reading or singing to baby
4. sharing a bath with baby
5. mirroring baby's movements
6. mimicking baby's cooing and other vocalizations — the first efforts at communication
7. using a front baby carrier during routine activities
8. letting baby feel the different textures of dad's face

Source: Bonding with Daddy at kidshealth.org

I took this photo of my daughter on her birth day, and I mean the day
she was born. I was allowed to go inside the delivery room.

The only things I have not done in the above list was to share a bath with the baby (#4) and to breastfeed the child (#2, LOL). I bottle-fed the eldest when he was an infant. The second child did not go through bottle-feeding, but that's another interesting story.

Some of you might think I did nothing else but help out. Let's put it this way: Yeah I had to sacrifice some sleep and social activities to help out, but I was as busy (or maybe even busier) than you at the office, volunteer service work and blogging.

At the end of the day, it's a question of what's important to you the moment the door of your home. On several occasions upon coming home, I stop at the gate before entering to say a prayer: May I leave the office outside of this gate, just as I leave home every time I go to work.