Parenting, 5 Months, Stuff They Don't Say

The stuff they tell you is true about kids. Here is the stuff they don't tell you.

You can't eat your dinner.
We were warned that we would need date nights after the baby was born, but I thought it was about romance. That part never really worried me. I knew we would make time for each other, and we do. Well it turns out that the problem is not about romance at all. The issue is that we can't eat our food. Of the hour that we are at the restaurant, 45 minutes of the time is spent walking the baby outside the restaurant. It is very difficult to eat dinner when you are outside the restaurant.

So, you do need a date night, but not for romance. It's so that you can eat your dinner.

There are places you can't go.
There are places that you just can't go with kids. Quiet restaurants are completely out of the question, too embarrassing to have the crying baby or kid throwing a fit. Also, sports bars often don't allow kids. If you have a favorite pub or sports bar and you are about to have a child, say goodbye to it. That's not your place to watch the game anymore. Babies and great beer places don't mix.

Side note, I am becoming more convinced of this every month that passes. The Starbucks "third place" of the next generation is the American pub. First dates used to happen at starbucks, they will start happening at a beer pub. Real estate agents and financial advisers across the country will meet clients in the pub instead of starbucks, even at lunch. The trend is really really strong. It is the young, hip, progressive thinker's place to be right now, and the momentum is hitting critical mass. It is extremely cool to know your favorite brewery right now, and it is becoming uncool to be clueless about beer. This trend will probably give way to a new legal drinking age of 18 as well, but that one may take a while.

Oh yes, the child. The worst part is the social life.
Being a part of a community is hard enough in this day and age. Being a part of a community with a 5 months old child is darn-near-impossible. It is totally fine for making friends, but it's really hard to frequent a location at all. So the community can't really happen. There is not a place in the world right now that I really want to bring our child to regularly.

There is a positive side though. At 4 months, we finally started to see a return on investment. The child can now recognize us as parents, and gets really excited to interact with us. This is rewarding after serving her without much return for 4 months. Believe it or not, it makes us want to have more kids. It gives us hope.

That's what they don't say about parenting at 5 months.