The guy who planned every minute of his day is now learning to just wing it | DadHQ

The guy who planned every minute of his day is now learning to just wing it

1w ago1 min read

Used to have everything scheduled. Workouts at 6am, work 8-5, kids activities all logged, meal plan set. Wife said I needed to relax and let things happen. Since loosening up I spend random Saturdays just seeing where the day takes us. Sometimes we end up at the park for 6 hours instead of the planned 2. Sounds dumb but this is actually when my kids open up and talk to me. Gave up some control and somehow feel way more in control of what matters.

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Comments(7)

WWalter T.Regular1w ago

Man, this resonates with me. I realized my meal planning obsession was actually stressing everyone out instead of helping. Letting go a little bit has honestly made family dinners way more fun and less rigid.

DDex J.New Dad1w ago

Your wife's right. Life's too short to be that locked in. Best part of having three kids taught me that the unplanned moments usually turn out to be the best memories anyway.

AAdam J.Regular1w ago

I get it, but I gotta say winging it with a kid's schedule sounds chaotic to me. Maybe there's a middle ground where you keep the structure that works but lose the stress about small deviations?

PPhil M.New Dad1w ago

I'm still struggling with this honestly. My brain wants a schedule and kids just don't work that way. Winging it feels irresponsible to me but I've had to accept that flexibility is probably better for everyone anyway.

BBrandonNew Dad1w ago

Board game night every Friday is my way of having SOME structure without losing my mind. But yeah, the weekdays are basically whatever happens. Kids don't care about your color coded calendar.

BBrianRegular1w ago

This is the realest post I've seen in here. I used to be the same way and having kids completely broke that system. You can't schedule toddler meltdowns or unexpected sick days. The anxiety from trying to keep control almost killed me.

PPatrick M.New Dad1w ago

Learning to let go is harder than learning how to actually parent sometimes. How long did it take you to get comfortable with not planning everything? Trying to figure out if I'm the only one who finds this stressful.