'Normal will return soon': Father of three's parenting advice to his younger self goes viral
A father’s tips on how to be a good husband and dad have gone viral after tens of thousands of people shared his Facebook post about the advice he would give to his younger self.
The 29-year-old Chicago father of three praised his wife, Franziska, and told friends if he could go back to before he was a parent he would tell himself five things.
“Here's what I would tell my childless 24-year-old self about how to be a supportive partner during the ‘becoming parents’ phase,” Ted Gonder said on Facebook on September 19.
“Wifey carried baby in her belly for nine months. So you carry baby on your belly for 9 months every chance you get,” he continued, along with a photo of his youngest child in a baby carrier on his chest.
He then reminded partners how exhausting breastfeeding can be for a new mum and there was a simple way to balance the load.
“Change every nappy you can. From number one onward,” he wrote, adding if people followed his advice, “Your wife will be bragging about you.”
“You will get over the grossness fast,” the blogger assured fathers.
Mr Gonder, who describes himself as an “Impact entrepreneur” on his website, then wrote making his “wifey” a cup of decaffeinated coffee every morning was the secret to “help her reset”.
He reminded men to tell new mothers they are beautiful to “help her see that in the moments when she is feeling most self critical and hopeless about her body”.
The lengthy Facebook post ended with Mr Gonders advice to “take the heat” and blamed any changes in behaviour to “crazy hormones”.
“Remember your job is to be her rock through all of this, so toughen up,” he wrote.
“Normal will return soon.”
The post hit a note with parents and has been shared more than 40,000 times on social media, receiving positive feedback.
“Love this so much, I hope to have such a respectful and dedicated partner someday,” one person responded.
One father said the post would help keep him in check.
“I'll tag my wife to read this so she can keep me accountable,” he wrote.
One woman said she wished she could go back and use the checklist to find her perfect man.
“If I could go back and do it all over again, this would be my requirements for dating a man,” she wrote.
Mr Gonders lapped up the praise from the hundreds of comments and thousands of positive reactions, but added his wife deserved just as much.
“It goes both ways. Super lucky I found Franziska, it helps to be married to your best friend,” he wrote.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter, download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo’s daily newsletter. Sign up here.
