Generally, in the media and polite conversations children are portrayed as little angels that fill your life with happiness and are source of joy and happiness. This is largely true but I would like to balance this overtly positive scenario with some reality. There is no doubt that children are a great source of joy and they really complete life and marriage, but it is also true that they are a pain in the rear-side and they challenge you with problems that you are not prepared for.

This article is directed towards those becoming fathers for the first time and I intend to give them a side of story that is not generally discussed. This way you might be better prepared for the big change that is about to come to your life.

Before I go any further, let me explain where I stand. I was married about three years back and our son is one and a half years old now. Our marriage is going just fine and our son is beyond cute, he is fantabulous.

Now I will divide the article into sections where I would cover the phases of parenting and the challenges it poses:

Start
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Once your wife informs you that you will be a father you would be darn happy. However, this excitement will be tempered by the wide mood variations of your wife. You can imagine the first few months of pregnancy as "those five days" stretched out for months. You will notice changes in eating habits that will defy any logic and there would be some changes in behavior as well. Be patient, very patient. From now on you cannot get angry or upset over your wife like before because you are looking at prospective mother of your daughter/son so you better be nice to her.

As the date approaches there will be regular doctor visits and there would be a high degree of anticipation and some degree of nervousness. One smart thing to do would be to ask your mother-in-law to join you guys. This would help a lot and would reduce your stress about 50%. Do not, do not ask YOUR mother to join you as that would increase your tension by 100%.

Post-Arrival
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So finally the day arrives and you are a father. You are very happy but the cute little angel will temper this happiness soon.

The cute little angels will have no sleep pattern, have to be attended to 24 hours a day, require 7-8 diaper change a day, will not sleep at night, and frankly she/he is so small that she/he doesn’t even look cute. What you have at hand is a new responsibility, an extremely delicate life that has to be looked after very carefully. First three months are particularly hard and you might sometimes think why the hell...

It is possible that you both will start fighting more often because of the cute little angel. These fights could be due to the fact that you both were not prepared for this. No one told you that it would be hard. So the frustrations will be vented. However, remember that this is a passing phase and things would be easier soon. Your role is to be patient, very patient. Also try to support your wife in ways that you can.

You will have to get used to this new factor that you will have to consider in all your decisions. Where you go and at what time you go will depend if it suits the three-month old trouble. Movie theatres are out of bounds for you, no more late nights, crazy hours, loud music and so much more. Basically you adjust your life to the requirements of the angel.

However, with time, most of these hassles kind of get reduced. The cuteness of little angels is directly proportional to their age. So once they are few months old they will be fun too. Also, you will gradually adjust to the new lifestyle and the new responsibility. The fights with wife will reduce and there will be fun in parenting.

To sum it up, the cute little angels are quiet a handful in the first few months and the sudden changes in life could be challenging. But, now, you have someone who will carry your name further. This fact over-rides all the challenges that this angel throws up your path.