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.

Shouts of, “I don’t wanna! I don’t wanna! I DON’T WANNA!” followed by foot stomping, sob-filled wailing and an occasional fall to the floor for some ill-natured tantrum throwing can make any parent eager to appease a torrid tot. For many parents, that’s the typical response from their child when asked to do something that doesn’t seem too desirable. And asking again doesn’t always seem to work. Keep tantrums at bay with these 19 strategies for making you a better parent of a better kid.

Contrary to popular belief, pregnancy is not always an exciting, happy or glowing experience. Clinical depression affects 15-20% of pregnant women, sometimes hitting so hard that the moms-to-be attempt suicide. Mothers of multiples are at even higher risk with more than 25% suffering during pregnancy and postpartum.

Work to pay the bills, get the kids off to school, make dinner, get the kids to bed, soccer games, dance recitals, piano lessons …with everything you have to do for your kids as a single dad, who has time to date? Well, you better make the time because soon your kids are going to grow up and move out, and all you'll be left with are about a billion plastic soccer trophies displayed proudly on your mantle.

My wife had a clarifying phrase she began to use early on in her pregnancy when she was hit exceptionally hard with morning sickness: All bets are off. The phrase was shorthand for a more complicated sentiment she was beginning to feel at the time.