My daughter is 4 and lately I've been spiraling thinking I'm messing her up somehow. Like I'm not patient enough or I'm working too much and missing stuff. My wife keeps telling me I'm doing fine but I can't shake the feeling that I'm falling short. Anyone else deal with this? How do you get out of your own head about it?
The dads who worry about being good enough are usually the ones actually doing right by their kids. Your daughter is lucky to have someone who cares this much. Have you talked to anyone about the spiraling thoughts? Sometimes just getting it out to a professional helps reset things.
That spiraling feeling is real. I've got two kids now and I'm constantly second-guessing myself. What helped me was talking to my wife about these specific worries instead of just general anxiety. Usually she points out something I'm actually doing well that I completely missed.
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Man, I feel this so hard. My 4-month-old is thriving and I still wake up at 3am convinced I'm doing something wrong. The fact that you're worried about it means you're already doing better than you think. Four year olds are pretty resilient and they need a dad who shows up, which it sounds like you're doing.