Dads in the Limelight Series
Our 363rd Dad in the Limelight is Brandon Billinger. I want to thank Brandon for being a part of the Dads in the Limelight series. It has been great getting connected with him and now sharing him with all of you.
1) Tell me about yourself, (as well as how you are in the limelight for my readers knowledge)I am Brandon, also known as The Rookie Dad. Father to one cute kid in my opinion.
I don’t know that I consider myself in the limelight. I feel like I am in the trenches of fatherhood. I am spreading the word parenting through multiple platforms either as the Managing Editor of Dads Round Table or contributing to Traveling Dad or if I am writing to my son on The Rookie Dad. I would not consider it the limelight, I am just doing things to keep me being the best dad that I can be.
2) Tell me about your family
It is interesting how our family started. My wife and I met online and within 5 months I proposed. The next year we bought a house and were just getting ready to start a renovation when we found out that we were pregnant. What makes the timing of it more ironic is that just a couple days before that, my wife and I were talking about adopting. The rest is history. We now have a two-year old boy that is running around “decorating” our house.
3) What has been the largest challenge you have had in being a father?
Learning patience. I do not have whole lot of patience to begin with and you throw in a toddler who thinks that he can take his sweet time sitting down on the toilet when there is a critical part of a baseball game on TV and my patience starts to run thin. I definitely work hard on my patience with my son and there comes a point when every parent goes through the same thing. I have just accepted that there will be things that I miss because I am being a parent or a dad. These are the days with my son that I will never get back and so I need to make sure to spend as much time with him as I can, and let the DVR catch the important sports events.
4) What advice would you give to other fathers?
Everyone’s advice is usually enjoy the time you get to spend with your children or get some sleep. My advice though is to read into what your children are saying. There are plenty of times that my son is trying to tell me something and I brush him off. Either he wants to play trains or wants me to play baseball and many times I feel like I am too busy to play. He is just telling me that he is wanting to spend time with me.
5) Seeing that you (or your position) are in the limelight, how have you come to balance parenthood and outside life? If you are currently not in the limelight per se, please still answer this in regards to how you balance parenthood and outside life.
My life is all about finding balance right now. Working full-time, being a contributor to Traveling Dad, and the Managing Editor of Dads Round Table does take a lot of my time. However, I do not let it interfere with spending time with my family. One way that keeps me from holding my phone or sitting at a computer all the time is I keep a journal of notes of things that I will eventually write stories about. One of the things that scares me is how quickly my son has picked up to using my phone and my ereader to play games. I want to show him that his life doesn’t have to revolve around the phone that is constantly in my hand.
6) What have you learned from the fathers that you have interacted with?
We are all in this together. I knew when I first became a parent that I was not the first nor the last to become a dad and many of the dads have all had similar experiences I have had. It is interesting to see the different perspectives that come from everyone.
7) What else would you share regarding your experiences as a father thus far?
I love being a parent. My son has brought so many smiles to me that I probably wouldn’t have had without him.
8) What have been the most memorable experiences that you have had thus far as a parent?
Watching my grow-up. It is so much fun watching him discover new things everyday and then explain to us in his two-year old mind what it is that he learned.
If you have any questions for Brandon, please leave a comment here and I will make sure that he gets them so that he may be able to respond!
Also, do you know a Dad in the Limelight? If so, please email me their contact information so that they too can be a part of this series!
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Congrats on being the winner of Dad In The Limelight.