Fatherhood Adventures can attest to the effectiveness of Daily Happiness Tip #8- Smell a Baby. It does calm me down from everyday stress to an extent that much hugging and sniffing may even induce me to sleep.
Just early this month when an important decision had to be made, I was all stressed out. I happened to instinctively pick the baby up from the crib as she was making a fuss as if telling me to get her. As I cuddled her, my thoughts still on the issue at hand, I started kissing her head and noticed her sweet smell.
I realized how happy the baby was to be cuddled. Her smile turned into giggles as I began to tickle her in the neck, arm and torso with my face. It only took a few minutes of living in that moment to clear my head. I felt better and was ready to tackle my concerns head-on. As mentioned in my previous blog on the benefits of being a dad, the smell, sight and sound of a baby trigger hormonal changes in men that supposed to improve problem-solving skills, resilience, motivation and stress-handling abilities.
In different occasions, a few sniffs of the baby’s sweet smell was enough to elicit a good feeling in me…a natural high. And indeed many times I dozed off during prolonged cuddling and exposure to baby scent.
How fortunate for me to realize (not too late) and articulate it now with our fourth child what must have always been happening to me with my first three. Indeed discoveries are not made by looking at new territories, but by looking into familiar, everyday occurrences with a new set of eyes.
I am sharing this to provide a new perspective (a new set of eyes, or glasses if more apt) and help others recognize how precious our children are, and their presence is a blessing that positively impacts our own wellbeing if we learn to live in the moment.
Subscribe in a reader
Posts
