Part two of my ‘Parenting, 6 months in’ series is the thing I’ve found hardest – you can check out part one (the best bits) here. As with part one I’m looking at the day to day stuff, not the one-off things. I’m also not including tiredness because, well, we’ve become parents and that’s just part of the deal.

For me, the worst bit so far has been the fear of missing out. Being out the house from 7.30am to 5.30pm for work I don’t get much time through the week with the bairn – normally about an hour and a half each night which includes part of his tea time, bath time and bed time. So, a lot of the time through the week I don’t get much time with him to notice a lot of the changes in his behaviour and development.

There have been times where it’s come to the weekend and it’s like having a different baby from the weekend before. Things like him learning how to roll over, being able to sit up, learning to feed himself and even things like his understanding of how his toys work are all things that have developed through the week and I feel like I’ve missed out on them

I’m also texting C a lot during the day asking how he did with his breakfast/lunch, how his naps have done, what they’ve been up to, etc. It’s must be proper annoying for her but again it comes down to me not wanting to miss out on stuff – no idea how I’ll manage when he’s in nursery and I can’t just text asking for updates!

Fortunately, though, this will all be changing soon as I move on to a new job with part time hours. I may well end up begging them to increase my hours, but I certainly won’t have a fear of missing out anymore.

What have you found hardest about being a dad (or a parent) so far? Let me know in the comments below or by getting in touch on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Thanks for reading and please don’t forget to subscribe or check out the social media links above to keep up to date with my journey as a dad.

Mark.