Decoding Dadhood

It has been more than 10 months since Augie was born, and since I started writing for this Web site. And while the name has changed slightly to reflect who is doing most (almost all, really) of the posting, I have never explained how the name for the blog came to be.

You may remember one of the first posts to the blog included a link to a column I wrote for the Dells Events about becoming a first-time father. I wasn’t sure if my editor was going to ask me to opine from time to time about the experience, so I kicked around a few names I could use for the column if it became a recurring feature in the paper. Alas, I have written but the one column, which isn’t necessarily bad considering all else I have to do, but I have enjoyed posting to the blog and sharing what has been going on with Augie. The blog hasn’t focused as much on being a dad as I thought it would, but I think people enjoy hearing about Augie more than anything else anyway so I don’t plan to change things too drastically. 

While I was cleaning out my briefcase this weekend, I found the list of names I brainstormed for my column. I thought I had trashed it, but since I didn’t, I figured I would share some of the names that didn’t make the cut. Some were simple, some were complex and, looking back, some were downright stupid. 

Among them were: 

-Fallacies of a First-Time Father 

-Fatherly Wisdom 

-Dad Talk 

-Feedback from a First-Time Father 

-Father Files 

-Daddy Decrees 

-Following a First-Time Father 

-Earning a Degree in Dad 

-Dad Diary 

-Fatherhood: Fits and Findings 

-Developmental Dad 

-Dad From Day 1 

-Fatherhood 101 

-Desperate Dad 

-Daddy Discoveries 

In the end, I chose Decoding Dadhood because I thought it would reflect my purpose for the blog: Talking about what it takes to be a dad. The blog has been mostly pictures of Augie so far, but I think as he starts to talk, I will have more to share. Like how I answered the tough questions of life – Why is the sky blue? Are we there yet? and Dad, why are you pulling out your hair? It has been a great experience so far, and with walking and speech right around the corner I’m sure I’ll have plenty to talk about for months, if not years, to come.