Humor during this early phase of pregnancy is not about telling jokes or making fun of others, it’s about using the cartoons in your head to enjoy life and alleviate stress. Everyone has cartoons going through our minds. Sometimes we have to make certain they are humourful because cartoons can be quite gruesome. Humour is about laughing for absolutely no reason. Instead of getting frustrated or angry, why not chuckle or belly lap instead. Make this a habit. Learn how. Humour is probably the best attribute that you can develop in yourself. If you already have children you know this. Children are not orderly.
You were not orderly as a child either. If your parents got angry all the time, you don’t want to repeat this type of parenting. If your parents showed clear and concise boundaries and had lots of humour instead of getting freaked then you already have good role models.
You know that humour is more about being pretty laid back and relaxed. You might not have known this before but being mellow is a form of humour … letting things go.
During this early phase when your partner probably does not feel too well, may be irritated and often tired it’s important that you develop this skill. You don’t want to make light of what she is experiencing, you just want not to get stressed because of the changes going on in her.
What does humour look like when your partner is feeling poorly? It has to do with the kindness and patience that you are growing. You now know that the early changes going on in her body are so profound that she has no control over them. She doesn’t want to feel poorly, it comes with the territory of early pregnancy.
Because you now recognize that this early phase continues until about 12 weeks of pregnancy then you know that this unsettling time will not last forever.
However, talk to your parents about ‘forever’. Once you are a father you are committed forever. The only thing that stops the relationship between parent and child is … nothing … not even death.
So, look at humor in your life. Rank yourself from 1-10 and 10 being really mellow, relaxed and easy to be with. If you can roll with the punches, let go and keep going with a good nature then you are well on your way to developing this wonderful fatherhood quality.
Keep laughing, keep chuckling, keep seeing the funny side of life and cock-ups and misadventures. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be serious about serious things however you know it’s important not to sweat the small stuff and almost everything is small stuff.
Your bottom line
This is by far the very best laughter website http://www.laughteryoga.org/.
Head to Udemy for all the Fathers-to-be Pregnancy Academy courses. Then at 24 weeks of pregnancy, come back here for the online birth classes and start with the birth preparation and birth-coaching skills … all developed by hundreds of dads and moms.
Birthing Better skills are housed in Common Knowledge Trust.