The real journey begins after the child is born. Get in the game early because you'll want to develop your own unique bond with the baby. You will want to establish your own tricks of the trade when it comes to coddling, feeding and changing the baby. These rites of passage lay the groundwork for your future relationship with your child.

If you were one of those dads who checked out when you had a parenting partner in the house, now that you’re a single dad you have no choice but to check back in. Depending on your level of involvement in the parenting before you became single, this can either be a somewhat smooth transition, nightmarish task or somewhere in between.

There is never a dull moment when you vacation with a two-year-old. And there are always such wonderfully fun lessons to be learned, as well.  For instance, we allocated the first day of our family vacation to the zoo. God allocated that same day to watering his plants. OK, so it was not quite rain. I mean, it was hardly worth the embarrassment of losing another fruitless struggle with that rusty old umbrella.

So, you're a new father or father-to-be.  Let's take as a premise that you are ready and willing to be a father, or at least you think you are. You've resigned yourself to spending way less time out with the boys, putting in less time at the office (and gym and anywhere else you spend time regularly), and following sports with considerably less interest. You think you've prepared yourself, right? Before you cash that check, you're going to need to address the three biggest lifestyle changes that a new father must deal with: forgetting traditional gender roles, losing your self-consciousness, and relating to your baby.

Like many other first time fathers (and first time mothers, for that matter) you are probably wondering how pregnancy will affect your sex life. The good news is that sex is safe during ALL stages of pregnancy. The bad news is that, as the pregnancy progresses, the big bulge your partner is carrying in her tummy, her hemorrhoids (!) and her swelling may put a damper on what used to be a sex life.

Car seats - essential, but pretty darn ugly. They get even worse when you transition from the infant car seat to the monstrous toddler seat. As if it wasn't bad enough that we had to lug a stroller, diaper bag, toys and baby around! You would think that car seat manufacturers would have put some more thought into aesthetics. Oh well. I guess I should just be grateful that the seat is safe and will protect my baby.