Dads don't know sh. . ..

I have recently started to notice something. . . people think dads of infants are dumb. When eating lunch with some coworkers, one of my more outspoken (in an annoying way, but I didn't say that) female coworkers pointed out that when a child is dropped off in less than cute clothes, the teachers will generally comment "Dad must have dressed him/her." This sort of tipped me off that I should look around and see if this perception of dad's is true. . . and sadly it is. I will give you some examples:

1) The day after Emma's blowout which the director of Emma's daycare deemed "one of the biggest she has ever seen" she commented to Lela that I had a look on my face that said I didn't know what to do when it all went down. Um, I am sorry, when you pull your daughter out of the jumperoo and find poop all over her and you have no idea where any of the things are to change her, what the heck are you supposed to do!!! BTW - we pay you so you can change her when she is there, so you should have gotten to it more quickly!

2) Today when Emma was getting her booster flu shot, I asked the nurse if I needed to take her pants all the way off or just pull it down and got the "duh, how can you not know the answer to that" look. I am sorry, generally you stick my daughter with 4-5 needles at once in what looks like a Nazi experiment, and that's after we have made you entertain your daughter in a small room for 20 min praying she doesn't get mad before we com. So this whole one little stick and then done thing is new to me. Then after the stick came she acted like I didn't know how to comfort Emma and then just walked off with a "typical dad" look on her face. Hello Miss snooty nurse. I am the guy who has taken care of a sick baby while PwC sucks the life out of her mom for the last 2 weeks. I think I can handle your needle prick.

I am sure there are a lot of other examples, but as I am a guy my mind and attention are much more focused on things like sports and well sports so I don't have time to notice every detail of every day. Anyway, my point is well they are probably right to a certain extent. This whole parenting an infant thing doesn't come as naturally to us. Maybe its due to the fact that I don't have a 24 hr milk buffet attached to my body. Maybe its due to the fact that I didn't spent 9 months of 24/7 with our Baby. Maybe its because my daughter has more hair on her head than me. Regardless, we dad's try hard. We will come in handy, I promise. Like when the first boy comes to pick up Emma for a date and needs to be afraid for his life. Or the first time motherly instincts take effect and Lela is ready to physically injure another parent or child after one of Emma's classmates is mean to her. Just you wait people who think I look lost right now . . .okay maybe I do have a look that screams I don't know what the heck I am doing on my face sometimes, but I can figure it out. And I know my pastels, so don't question my dressing of Emma.