Good question.
Short answer is I don't know.
I've been mulling doing something about being a new dad for a while, mostly since I found out my wife was pregnant. What I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it was always the question, and it still is. So consider this an evolving work.
I was inspired this past March at South By Southwest as I sat in on a great session with dad bloggers called "Are We Not Men? Reaching New American Dads." Craig Heimbuch of Man Of The House and Jason Avant of DadCentric led a core conversation session about the need for authentic dad voices in the blogosphere - we have lots of mom bloggers, but dads blogging realistically about their experiences are too rare and don't do much to dispel the false image of the ideal male that gets created in our media and advertising.
Consider me inspired. It's a niche that needs to be filled. The question is how I help fill it.
So here's the tough part. I struggle a lot with authenticity in non-professional spots mostly because I've felt the shame of being honest in the blogosphere. I've learned to watch what I say, and that has never felt right to me because I believe in being authentic in these spaces. I started an off-the-record blog a couple months ago on Tumblr and it fell apart almost immediately because we soon afterward found out we were having a kid and I couldn't blog about the one thing burning a hole in my mind.
I don't do the creative process well when I feel muzzled. I think this is going to be the particular challenge of this space for me.
So I'm looking for inspiration and role models. My friend Jen Reeves remains one of my main sources of inspiration as I think about what I'm doing here. I'm looking for others, so suggest away if you have them.
What I think I know: This space is going to be about my learning to balance work and home life now that we have a baby on the way. With myself and a career-minded wife, it has been easier than I expect it to be. And I often think about how I can maintain the same level of energy and be the best professor I can be while being the best dad I can be.
Up front, I expect to fail at this and learn. I don't think it'll be perfect. This blog will be about the good stuff and the stuff I'm learning. Maybe some other things too. I'm making it up as I go.
