5 It's A Huge Ego Boost

Unconditional love is great and all, but an underrated aspect of the dad thing is that your baby will also unconditionally think you're rad. If you're on the nerdier side, this can be kind of mind-blowing. There's now a person who literally thinks you're the coolest human being on the planet. Well, you might be second to mom, but does she have your peekaboo skills? Or know all the words and dance moves to Shake Your Rattle (your baby-friendly Shake Your Booty parody that your baby doesn't know would be considered shameful by adult society)? I think not.

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Trust me, shambling into the nursery in your shittiest old shirt after pulling a late-nighter and having the baby react like the Rock just parachuted into the room is a special kind of ego boost. This, by the way, is also why all new dads immediately gain 20 pounds. "Maybe I shouldn't have eaten that fifth slice of pizza, but hey, the baby still approves of everything I do, so ... maybe a sixth?"

I realize this won't last. As soon as the kid is old enough to actually understand my jokes, I'm doomed, but until that time, I am one self-satisfied fatso.