Dad Matters Merseyside

Do you remember the first time you held your little one?

I remember it clearly for both of them.

Terrified to hold them, how to pick them up, where to put my hand… and relief that they were here and safe and their mum was ok too.

This picture was the first time I held both of my daughters at the same time.

Proud? Yes
Scared? A little
Prepared? More than I was the first time
Confident? Probably a little more than I should’ve been.

Those feelings we get in the early days are shaped by our expectations, our experiences, our knowledge and also our biology. Knowing I’d get more emotional due to drops in testosterone, and that prolonged crying might feel really difficult to manage for similar reasons would have helped me immensely back then.

And here we are - Dad Matters is supporting thousands of dads a year to understand these things and hundreds of dads a year with more targeted one to one support.

I have also learned that I should never ever shave again - NEVER!

Kieran

Mental health issues are harder to spot and deal with than many of us think. All of these things we talk about here …improving our nutrition, exercise, sleep, people around us — those are just tools (in above all else) trying to keep our mind in a stable place. What are powerful video as a reminder to us that we just don’t know who struggling so please give everyone the benefit of the doubt. ❤️👍 🎥 @brain_p0wer