Being a parent is great.  It’s also tough stuff.  But, ultimately, it’s a journey that you go on with your child wherein you learn a lot about your child, the World and yourself.

As we head into this weekend, here are a few lessons I’ve learned of late:

1. Being a dad means that successfully putting your 2 year-old to sleep is cause for a major celebration #spiketheball #endzonedance #crackopenthevino #highfivingmyself #whosthemannowdog #momsunimpressed

2. Being a dad means at least once a week I “discover” an Elmo, toy truck or desiccated cookie remains in my coat pocket or bag and have no recollection of how they got there. #parentingdementia #nosleep #allablur #parentinghamsterwheel #18moreyears??

3. Being a dad means I now get into heated debates with people about the respective merits of Elmo, Cookie, Murray, Telly, Baby Bear, Bird, Snuffy, and Abby Cadabby. #SesameStreetParent #CookieRules

4. Being a dad means being a scavenging “hyena” of toddler food in order to seek sustenance.

5.  Being a dad means reading articles about sports agents because you’re convinced your son will need one for his big “free agent” year.

6. Being a dad means “vacation” is defined as the time between midnight and 2 am when you can watch whatever movie you want without judgments

7. Being a dad means being converting all your curses to single letters: What the “F”? Holy S!! Don’t be such a “D”!