Dad Life

Truth: My husband was not always a great dad.

I know -- from the picture above and the pictures I post, you would never guess that -- and the truth is he was never a bad dad; he just wasn't always great. Disclaimer: Jordan is one of the most wonderful men I have ever met. He is incredibly smart, witty, hilarious, caring, patient, understanding, willing, masculine, strong (emotionally and physically), driven, motivated, loving, gentle, sweet, etc. etc. etc. Simply put, he's an amazing man and I adore him. When we got pregnant, I couldn't wait to see what kind of dad he would be. Would he be a total sap? Would he be protective? Would he be funny? All our friends and all our family kept saying, "Jordan's going to be the BEST dad ever!" and of course I agreed because I couldn't imagine him being anything else, right?

Wrong.

Sydney was born, and I suddenly had a very withdrawn husband on my hands. Don't get me wrong; Jordan loved her more than anything from the second she was born, but he loved her from afar. He didn't hold her very much as a newborn, as she could sense he wasn't comfortable holding her and would start crying -- and then Jordan would immediately put her down or give her to me. Because I breastfed, there wasn't much he could do for feeding, and because he wasn't comfortable holding such small baby, he often passed off diaper changes, clothes changes, baths, etc. to me. I was very hurt initially and talked to several of my friends who had young babies, and they all tried to sympathize with me, but I could tell no one really understood and I could also feel pity from friends as well. I felt very alone as a new parent, and while I loved Sydney more than anything and was happy and willing to do everything, I felt really frustrated and almost resentful of Jordan's withdrawn behavior. We talked many, many times about this, and I began to realize he wasn't withdrawn because he was lazy or because he didn't love Sydney; Jordan just really didn't know how to be a hands-on father.

I truly believe there are men out there who are natural dads and men out there who need to work at it; Jordan falls into the latter category. He definitely had to work on being intentional and present in Sydney's life, and I definitely had to work on letting him be intentional and present. Because I had been running the show for a few months, I had systems and processes in place, and there were more than a few times I had bite my tongue or hold my hands in my lap to let Jordan figure out his own way of doing things. Slowly but surely, Jordan became more and more hands-on with Sydney.

A big change in their relationship came from handing off bath time to Jordan. Slowly but surely, it became the Jordan and Sydney Show, and I was just a spectator sitting in the audience watching the two loves of my life play together. Their relationship grew every single day, and with every passing bath, Sydney started to become more and more of a Daddy's Girl and needed less and less of Mama. So when I received the Tear Free Rinse Pail from Nuby, I knew exactly who was going to be doing the review. ;-)

We had been searching for a product like this for months. We had been using a competitor's bath scoop to rinse Sydney off, and while it worked just fine for her body, it always made us feel bad to dump water on her head and watch her poor little face get soaked. The rinse pail is awesome because it has a comfort edge that allows you to press the cup against your child's forehead to rinse their hair without water dripping all over their faces.

The pail features a comfortable grip for easy handling, and the deep base fills easily in shallow water. It took Sydney a few baths to get used to the pail, as every time she thought she was getting water dumped on her, but now she loves it. She closes her eyes and tilts her head back, and it's kind of the most adorable thing ever, haha.

Both Sydney and Jordan alike give the rinse pail two thumbs up, and it's so fun to hear and watch them play together. The pail is available at Amazon, Babies 'R Us, Buy Baby Direct, and Walmart.

Bath time has certainly made Jordan and Sydney's relationship grow closer, but I've noticed the more amazing dad he's become, the better our relationship has gotten as well. As cliche as it sounds, there is nothing better than watching your significant other play with your child; it makes me gush and my heart burst with joy. Sydney is now SO in love with her daddy; he's usually the first thing she asks for when she wakes up (followed by Mya for whatever reason, haha) and he's the last face she wants to see before she goes down. I can now honestly say Jordan is the best dad ever to Sydney, and he's so good with her. They have such a fun, adorable and different bond with each other than Sydney does with me, and I am so proud of Jordan for becoming such an incredible dad. And thank you, Nuby, for making bath time easier and so much more fun!

Colorado Baby Anderson is part of the Nuby Parent Blogger Program. While I received items to sample or review, all opinions expressed are 100% honest and of my own.

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