Working with more than 200,000 new dads over the past 19 years, Greg Bishop, founder of Boot Camp for New Dads (http://www.bcnd.org), a non-profit orientation program for fathers-to-be, operating in more than 260 hospitals, clinics, schools, fire stations and churches around North America and internationally, offers advice for new dads who are dealing with economic realities in his latest book Crash Course for New Dads – Tools, Checklists and Cheat-sheets.
Today’s economic realities create difficult circumstances. Many careers demand long working hours and a new baby adds to your financial requirements. Two income families may find they now have to rely on just one income which further puts a strain on the amount of time a working parent can spend with baby.
Bishop explains, “The first three years of a child’s life are the most vital in shaping who s/he will become later in life. A parent will never have other opportunities like those when a child is an infant, so a working parent must make sure that s/he does spend time – even if it is just a couple of hours a week – alone with baby now.”
Many veteran dads have faced such circumstances. Bishop shares strategies from Crash Course for New Dads for when a working parent’s time is short:
· Hardly home? Make the time you do have count as much as possible. Change those diapers. Set the tone that despite work obligations, you are here to be a player and be involved.
· Play with your baby before you leave in the morning and just after you get home. It has been found that babies sleep longer when a parent plays with them at night.
· Strive for solutions that enable you to spend time with your child. Be creative. Figure out how to work from home; even once a week is better than nothing.
· Play a strong role in providing emotional support for your partner who is home with your baby most of the time. Call, email or text each other to ask how s/he is doing and get the update on junior’s accomplishments of the day.
· When home, spend time alone with your baby. Don’t let your limited experience as a care giver interfere. Send your partner out with friends so you can enjoy some one-on-one time with baby.
· Don’t allow yourself to feel diminished because you can’t spend lots of time with your new child. Your work and income is your family’s lifeline.
Bishop continued, “Finding time to spend with baby is often an ongoing challenge for many working parents. Two-thirds of Boot Camp veteran dads reported that they would spend more time at home with their children if they were financially able to do so. Even though the time spent with your baby may be brief, it is well-spent and benefits both parent and child.”
Fatherhood Books Serve as a “Play by Play” Guides
Greg Bishop offers strategies from more than 200,000 new dads that have gone through the Boot Camp for New Dads program in both of his books, Crash Course for New Dads: Tools, Checklists and Cheat Sheets and his first book, Hit the Ground Crawling, which covers work balance, being a dad, caring for a new mom and much more. Both books are available online at www.DadsAdventure.com.
New Dads Learn What to Expect at Boot Camp Workshops
Dads-to-be will be better equipped to face the challenges and opportunities of fatherhood after attending a Boot Camp “hands on” educational workshop. Men attend the class when they are expecting their first baby, and are joined in the workshop by “veterans” who had previously attended and have returned with their two to four-month-old baby in tow. They are able to give the dads-to-be a realistic idea of what to do and what to expect when their first baby comes. For many men attending, it’s their first time holding a baby.
Boot Camp for New Dads
Now celebrating their 19th year, Boot Camp for New Dads is nationally acclaimed as the “Best Practice” for preparing men to be fathers and has been named a U.S. Navy Model Program. Boot Camp for New Dads has prepared more than 200,000 men for fatherhood over the years.
With more than 4.1 million births (National Center for Health Statistics), and approximately 1.5 million men becoming new dads every year, it’s more important than ever for fathers to realize that being a “good provider” is only part of the very central role they have in their children’s lives.
For more information about Boot Camp for New Dads, visit www.bcnd.org, or to visit Dads Adventure, go to www.Dadsadventure.com. To arrange an interview with Greg Bishop, please contact sdubin@prworkzone.com, (781) 582-1061.
National and International Locations
Boot Camp For New Dads locations include ALASKA (Anchorage); ARIZONA (Chandler, Flagstaff, Gilbert, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sun City); ARKANSAS (Jonesboro, Paragould, Springdale); CALIFORNIA (Apple Valley, Bakersfield, , Fresno, Garden Grove, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Madera, Merced, Mission Hills, , Oakland, Orange, Pomona, Port Hueneme, San Diego, Santa Ana, Santa Barbara, , S. Lake Tahoe, Travis, Valley Springs); COLORADO (Aurora, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Denver, Durango, Fort Collins, Fort Carson, Greeley, Longmont, Thornton, Wheat Ridge); CONNECTICUT (Bristol, Danbury, New London); FLORIDA (Brandon, Clearwater, Hollywood, Jacksonville, North Palm Beach, Orlando, St. Petersburg, West Palm Beach, Sarasota, Tampa); GEORGIA (Atlanta, Elberton, Gainesville, Marietta, Savannah); HAWAII (Pearl Harbor, Schofield); ILLINOIS (Aurora, Carbondale, Champaign, Chicago, East St. Louis, Evanston, Freeport, Geneva, Great Lakes, Highland Park, Libertyville, Moline, Oak Park, Rockford, Springfield, Urbana, Winfield); INDIANA (Anderson, Bluffton, Hammond, Indianapolis, Jeffersonville, Kokomo); IOWA (Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Jefferson, Sioux City); KANSAS (Junction City, Topeka); KENTUCKY (Paducah); LOUISIANA (Covington); MAINE (Auburn, Augusta, Bangor, Brunswick, Ellsworth, Waterville); MARYLAND (Annapolis) MASSACHUSETTS (Beverly, Ipswich, Lowell, Nantucket, Plymouth, Weymouth, Springfield); MICHIGAN (, Ann Arbor, Bay City, Centreville, Iron Mountain, Ithaca, Kalamazoo, Niles, St Joseph, Ypsilanti); MINNESOTA (Brainerd, Duluth, Robbinsdale); MISSISSIPPI (Tupelo); MISSOURI (Jefferson City) MONTANA (Billings, Helena, Miles City); NEBRASKA (Kearney, Lincoln, Omaha); NEVADA (Las Vegas) NEW HAMPSHIRE (Manchester, Portsmouth); NEW JERSEY (Princeton) NEW YORK (Glens Falls, Little Falls, Mineola, Rome, Utica); NORTH CAROLINA (Burlington, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Concord, Ft. Bragg, Greensboro, Monroe, Raleigh, Shelby); NORTH DAKOTA (Grand Forks); OHIO (Akron, Cleveland, Columbus, East Cleveland, East Liverpool, Garfield Heights, Lima, Lorain, Mayfield Heights, Middleburg Heights, Orange Village, Portsmouth, Toledo, Warren, Westlake, Youngstown); OKLAHOMA (Claremore, Oklahoma City, Tulsa); OREGON (Corvalis, McMinnville, Salem, Silverton); SOUTH CAROLINA (Columbia, Pickens, Walhalla); TENNESSEE (Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis); TEXAS (Amarillo, Dallas, Fort Hood, Longview, Lubbock, Plano, San Antonio, Texarkana, Waco, Webster); VERMONT (Barre, Brattleboro, Middlebury); VIRGINIA (Charlottesville, Chesapeake, Hampton, Richmond) WASHINGTON (Everett, Fairchild AFB, Longview, Olympia, Puyallup, Yakima); WEST VIRGINIA (Wheeling); WISCONSIN (Florence, Green Bay, Madison, Oshkosh, Watertown, Wausau); JAPAN (Atsugi, Yokosuka), ITALY (Sicily); UNITED KINGDOM [a.k.a. Hit the Ground Crawling] (Birmingham, Liverpool)
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