Andy Holloman – Dad, Writer, Goofball

Two great things to announce (and they dovetail quite nicely!)  –

1.   I’ll be the guest at Bruce Sallan’s #DadChat on Twitter coming up this Thur. (2/28)  at 9pm EST.  Bruce is a Dad Extraordinaire and has written several books on being a Dad.  He is a frequent guest on HuffPost Live as well as being an all around entertaining guy.   Check him out      http://www.brucesallan.com/2013/02/25/patience-at-dadchat/

Patience is the topic!

2.  In keeping with the exact same theme –  I’m pleased to have author Charlie Plunkett as a guest blogger chatting about her “Three Words of Advice for Parents”    I bet you can guess what ONE of those words is!  Come on, you can do it!

(good job, I knew you could)  Here’s Charlie’s Website   www.charlieplunkett.co.uk

Be sure to check out her excellent book    100 Little Words on Parenthood

*********************************

I’m delighted to be guest blogging here today.   The very talented Mr. Holloman kindly contributed to my latest book 100 Little Words on Parenthood.  It is a compilation book made up of anecdotes, poems, and words of wit and wisdom on all aspects of parenthood from the birth of a child through to the arrival of grandchildren.  100 fabulous contributors have all given me an insight into their experiences of parenthood in exactly 100 words.

Here are 100 Little Words from my lovely host, as they appear in 100 Little Words on Parenthood.

Patience by Andy Holloman

Be patient.

Like all new endeavours, becoming a good parent is a learning process, albeit very much an “on-the-job” process. The pressures are overwhelming and easily wear down even the hardiest of souls. Take it slow. Ask for help. Combined with learning, you are regularly forced to give up sleep and make decisions that you simply have no experience with. But you will. The wisdom will come to you. Your child will help you and so will loving people around you. Patience with yourself is vital. Wouldn’t your child want you to be patient with yourself? I know they would.

*********************************************************

Andy asked me if I had to give just three words of advice for parents what would they be. The words I have chosen are mentioned throughout the book from many of the contributors, they are –               Love, Patience and Perseverance.

Love – It goes without saying that from the day you hold your new-born baby in your arms you will feel waves of unconditional love. True there will be sleepless nights, tantrums and as they get older times when you maybe don’t like their behaviour, but they will always have your undying love.      Love can be expressed in many ways from the bond of breastfeeding, to the giggles your baby elicits as you find yourself tirelessly playing peek-a-boo with them. Dads bonding with their baby’s in the small hours of the morning, as they allow mums some shut-eye and the many moments of pride and love you will feel as your child achieves each milestone – crawling, cruising, walking and talking.                                                                                                                                        When you become a parent you will find yourself learning to embrace new things you previously never acknowledged. The playground, the sandpit, the ball park and the farm will all become places you will love spending time together as a family. You will learn to love children’s TV characters and evenings will become a magical time where you snuggle up in bed to read stories to your child.

Patience – This was a recurring theme throughout the book and something that you will master as a parent. Gone are the days when you say you will watch a film at a certain time or eat your dinner piping hot. Patience is required by the bucket load for practically every aspect of parenthood, even your child’s birth is determined by them and not you. In the early days it is needed to avoid snapping at your partner when you are both sleep deprived and still coming to terms with changing diapers and ‘driving’ a pushchair. In the book there are entries from mothers who suffered with postnatal depression and having the patience and love to know that one day you will feel confident and happy in your new role can be a challenge, but it is possible to overcome. With many childhood milestones there will also be a huge amount of patience required from parents. Weaning, toilet training, reading and writing are not things that happen overnight!

Perseverance – This goes hand-in-hand with patience particularly with weaning and toilet training. I think every parent that has experienced these milestones would say there were moments when they were ready to throw the towel in and succumb to putting their child back into pull-ups or let them eat junk food for an easy life. But as a parent it is our responsibility to lead by example and gently encourage our children to accomplish these things in their own time.

So there you have it my three top tips for successful parenting

Love, Patience and Perseverance.

Happy parenting!

To read more about 100 Little Words on Parenthood please visit my site www.charlieplunkett.co.uk