Don't know who I am anymore outside of being a Dad
Hey there Dads,
So my wife and I currently have a 13 month old son. He's a handful but I love him to death. Our whole world pretty much revolves around him. I'm also going back to school trying to get my bachelors (currently 6 months away from graduating) while working full time. My days consist mostly of our sons morning routine then off to work/school then come home to do dinner/bath/bedtime, once that's done anytime I have left in the evening is spent catching up on work/uni assignments. Weekends are mostly doing family activities which are great and good bonding time with my son. However we are also saving and looking to buy a house and have another kid soon so that puts a bit more pressure things as we've been going to house viewings all day every weekend for the past few weeks now.
So anyway my birthday is next week and my wife casually asks me "Is there anything you want or want to do for my birthday?" and that's when it hits me. Everything that I used to enjoy I can't do any more. I can't play videogames or watch a show cause I have work to catch up on after our sons bedtime. I can't go out to gigs anymore because I need to be home for my sons night time routine at night and look for houses during the day. I also honestly don't really have any close friends I can meet up with for a drink or anything. I didn't want to upset my wife by telling her this so I just said "I'd think about it".
On the few occasions I do get a little me time I always feel incredibly guilty afterwards or just end up doing household chores anyway (this sounds crazy I know). I know they say you make a lot of sacrifices when becoming a parent but I didn't realize how much of yourself you pour into it. It can be really isolating sometimes. I sometimes don't recognize myself since becoming a parent, for better and for worse.
Sorry for my long rambling post and if I'm sounding cringe or emo. Just venting into the void lol. Do any other Dad's feel this way? Would be great to know.