Confessions of a Bearded Dad - Observations and Thoughts
Sitting down a couple morning's ago to work with my trusty cup of hot caffeine, I realized a couple things:
- I have not written a blog post in a good while.
- My mind immediately justified it because of my infant son being born less than a month ago.
- I totally have been neglecting my beard. I don’t think I even put in oil this morning….
- I attempted to justify again and decided to craft a blog post instead shortly after applying some much-needed beard oil.
The perfect topic to talk about at this moment for me is being a bearded dad. A bearded dad with an almost 2-year-old this August, and a less than 1-month old baby. I was on an amazing track with my personal beard growth and health up until recently. What’s funny is that I didn’t really even think about the beard routine I had dedicated myself to once the new baby arrived. Rather than instinct simply kicking in and me continuing my beloved beard routine, I feel as though my brain lacked the capacity for any extra steps to my day and defaulted to a simple shower. No oil, no balm, no butter. I didn’t even bother washing the beard much other than maybe once a week. For my beard, this absolutely had negative effects.
The beard itch was back. Not as intense as it was at the beginning of my bearded journey a long time ago, but it was noticeable. My beard hair was frizzled and unruly. You could tell by touch that it was not nourished by the sweet grooming products it had grown accustom to. I was also heavily relying on coffee, tea, and anything else with copious amounts of caffeine to get me through the day. This of course led to dehydration and we all know that is not at all good for a healthy beard.
Even with the noticeable issues I simply did not tend to the problem. I was on daddy autopilot. The stage of dad life that consists of the basics: eat what little you can when you can, sleep when ever possible, tend to the needs of your partner and kids, and of course….work. Everything else is a flash thought from a once steady routine. If your brain says “Bro...you need some beard oil bad my dude. Gimme some sweet beard nectar!” you have the basic 2 choices: to do what you need or move on. Dad brain mostly signals to move on because its not in the basic’s wheelhouse.
So, what did I learn and what changes did I make to help me when I am on daddy autopilot?
Set calendar reminders:
I know this may be a little much, but I’m practically glued to my phone 24 hours 7 days a week. So, my thought is if I set a calendar reminder for beard maintenance in the morning and evening I won’t forget.
Get a good water bottle:
If you don’t currently have a trusty water bottle go out and get one. Proper hydration is key to maintaining a healthy beard, and it’s very helpful when you can’t get up for extended periods of time because you’re feeding a baby. Keep it filled and haul it with you everywhere just like your phone. Fill it in the evening and keep it next to the bed. If it is near enough you have no excuse not to drink it.
Your Barber is your friend:
I love my local barbershop for many reasons. It’s like a dude day at the spa. The hot towel, razor shave and lineup, clean haircut. It’s very relaxing and it makes you feel like a million bucks. Chances are you probably don’t have a ton of time on your hands, but most barbershops use apps like Booksy that allow you to easily schedule an appointment and believe me the time you get away and the feeling you get when you leave is so very worth it.
Take your vitamins:
Dad life means you are eating what you can when you can at least in my situation. Most likely its not a balanced meal full of nutritional value. I tend to go straight for easy which is anything that I don’t have to spend a ton of time cooking. Supplement a good multivitamin and take a biotin supplement to help the beard out and get some health benefits. This one is going on my calendar reminders.
Try your best to get time away with your Partner:
This is more away from beard and in the direction of mental and relationship health, but it is worth mentioning. It’s very easy to get stuck in the routine created by having a new baby. Sometimes we forget to tend to the relationship that started the family, the couple itself. Even a few hours away from baby can restore much needed connection and feelings between the couple.
Wrapping up, I’m sure there are things my exhausted brain is not remembering that could totally be added to this. I think though it is still a good starting point and may help some folks out there as a foundation or to provoke conversation. The goal of this post was to be real and provide some insight from my humble opinion into a young bearded dad life.
Stay positive. Be good to each other. And to be totally cheezy….be stoked. Your beard is 😊
Scott~Bearded Coast
