Dads in the Limelight ( #limelightdads ) – Jason Law ( @dad_ally ) #dadchat #dadstalking

My name is Jason Law. I am 31 years old and a new father of a 1 1/2 year old son. I work in the advertising industry specifically digital / internet related. I am the oldest of my family, with one sister who has two sons. I live in Michigan and enjoy the outdoors and photography. I run the website Dad Ally (http://www.dadally.com). It is aimed at fathers in helping them with information and my own personal stories of fatherhood. Ideally I envision it as an Ally to help fathers in the real world fight for their equal rights in the Mom dominated world of advertising and parenthood.

I am married to my beautiful wife Nicole (1 1/2 years). We have a son who was born on 12/26/2012. We are a new family but are enjoying all the time we get and are learning all the in’s and outs of being new parents. My wife is going to school full time and is in her 3rd year of doctoral school for her Psy-D.

The biggest challenge I have had with being a father is that I work in a busy industry. An industry known for working late nights and at home at times. With that I feel the struggle of balancing work and life at home. I hear all of the things that my son is doing / learning on a day to day basis and at times feel guilty that I can not be there for all of these new steps that he makes into life.

Take everything in, take pictures, movies, mental images. They grow up fast. Also don’t take things personally. At times when our son is crying or is upset and I feel like he doesn’t want me to help him, his mom is able to comfort him and get him the things he needs. Believe me, it’s hard to feel like you can’t help, but just to know that there is someone who is there that can love him and help with his needs is a life-saver. Also take care of your wife! A happy wife is a happy family and in return you will feel more loved by everyone. That time of

feeling like you are number 1 is gone. It’s not coming back and you have to realize that. The most important person in your life is now your child, and having a happy and loving wife will make everyone happy and safe.

 

I have to take the time that I have and really focus on that. Get rid of all the

other distractions and things getting in the way of preventing me from spending the quality time I have with my family. Work will always be there, it seems to be waiting and always trying to butt it’s way in. However family time and the milestones that your child will reach will not always be there. The first time our son laughed or looked right into my eyes and coo’d were a great moment and I was happy that I was able to experience that.

That you take everything with stride and do your best to be the father who you want to be, not the one you are told you should be. It’s hard sometimes to get out of that perfect image of what a father should and be. In reality your child just wants you to be yourself.

Take a dad’s class before having your child. I took one and took it very seriously. There were fathers there that were not, and made a joke about it. I

feel this is my first job in life. Taking care of a person who needs you and doesn’t have the capabilities to do so themselves is in a sense a very hard job and if you can gain some advice from fathers who have gone through the tough times and can provide you help, take it!

Waking up every morning and having my son sleep on my chest before going off to work. It is a time that I look forward to and will be hard to give up once he get’s older. It is our bonding time every morning.