When you first find out you’re going to be a father, the excitement is usually followed by a million questions and a lot of confusion; or both.
Dad and Then What was created to be the resource I wish I’d had back then: a space for honest, unfiltered conversations about the reality of being a dad.
Whether you’re a first-, second-, or third-time father, this is a place to hear the real stories—the situations, the emotions, and the "then what" moments we all face but rarely talk about. Our goal is simple: to make fatherhood feel a little less lonely, a little less intimidating, and a lot more accessible. If just one dad sees himself in these stories and realizes he’s not alone, we’ve hit the jackpot.
Join us as we open the dialogue, one story at a time.
Publisher
Dad And Then What
Category
kids & family · society & culture · society & culture
Episode 12: We Started a Podcast... And Then What?
Episode 12: We Started a Podcast... And Then What? When we first turned the mics on a few months ago, we had a plan: share some stories, offer some analytical advice, and figure out this whole fatherhood thing together. We didn't anticipate that talking about being dads would actually become a form of unintended therapy. In the Season 1 Finale of Dad And Then What, we are putting the scripts aside and taking a hard look at what this experiment has actually done to us as men and fathers. We ar...
26 Apr 2026
Episode 11: Why Your Smallest Habits Become Their Core Memories
Episode 11: Why Your Smallest Habits Become Their Core Memories Do you remember the exact moment you realized: Wait, I’m the dad now. I actually get to decide what our family does on Sunday mornings? We all grew up with certain holidays, weekly routines, and cultural rituals. Some of them felt magical, and others just felt like stressful obligations because "that’s how we’ve always done it." Now that we are the ones steering the ship, we have to figure out what to pass down, how to blend trad...
19 Apr 2026
Episode 10: The Dad Bod: Pride or Problem?
Episode 10: The Dad Bod: Pride or Problem? Let’s talk about the exact moment you realized the "Dad Bod" had officially crept in. Was it the jeans suddenly fitting weird? Getting winded just wrestling on the living room rug? Or the realization that your daily macros now consist entirely of leftover dinosaur nuggets and cold coffee? Society loves to joke about the "Dad Bod" as a badge of honor, but the reality behind it is a massive lifestyle shift. It comes from chronic sleep deprivation, the ...
12 Apr 2026
Episode 9: Sports, Arts, and Unfinished Stories
Episode 9: Sports, Arts, and Unfinished Stories "Parenting isn’t cloning yourself — it’s discovering who they are." It’s a classic dad trap: You grew up living and breathing sports, so naturally, you buy your kid a baseball glove before they can even walk. But what happens when they’d rather paint watercolors than score goals? In this episode of Dad and the What, we are tackling the heavy realization that our kids’ journeys are not our sequels—they are their own debuts. We unpack the subtle w...
5 Apr 2026
Episode 8: The Silent Struggle (Why Dads Don't Talk About Mental Health)
Episode 8: The Silent Struggle (Why Dads Don't Talk About Mental Health) "You can fix a leaky sink, but how do you fix a panic attack?" Most dads are raised to believe that being strong means being silent. We learn early on that our job is to fix things, not to feel them. So when stress, anxiety, or burnout hits, we bury it behind work, humor, or distractions, terrified that opening up makes us weak or a burden to our families. In this episode of Dad and the What, we are breaking the "strong ...
29 Mar 2026
Episode 7: Marriage After Kids – Still Teammates?
Episode 7: Marriage After Kids – Still Teammates? Kids change everything — especially your relationship. In this episode of Dad and the What, we dive into what really happens to a marriage after becoming parents. The dynamic shifts, the pressure builds, and suddenly, the relationship that once felt effortless requires a whole lot of intention. We talk about how communication changes when you’re both exhausted, why intimacy and connection often take a hit, and how small, everyday frustrations ...
22 Mar 2026
Episode 6: Dad and the... Digital Tug-of-War
Episode 6: Dad and the... Digital Tug-of-War Let’s be honest: Nothing triggers "Dad Guilt" quite like handing over a tablet so you can finally finish a work email or just drink a cup of coffee while it’s actually hot. We’ve all been there—the internal battle between wanting to be "unplugged" and the reality of surviving a rainy Tuesday afternoon. In this episode of Dad and the What, we’re pulling back the curtain on the screen time struggle. We’re moving past the "screens are evil" headlines ...
15 Mar 2026
Episode 5: From Diapers to Dividends (The Dad's Guide to Money)
Ever look at your bank account after a weekend of buying diapers, $8 cartons of berries, and shoes your kid will outgrow in three weeks, and think... where did it all go? In this episode of Dad and the What, we are tackling the massive, stressful, and often unspoken topic of money and fatherhood. Becoming a dad doesn't just change your sleep schedule; it completely rewires your financial reality. We’re talking about the heavy mental load of being the "safety net," the shock of unexpected cost...
8 Mar 2026
Episode 4: Fatherhood After Midnight
The Brutal Reality of Sleep Deprivation "Sleep when the baby sleeps." It’s the most well-meaning, useless piece of advice every new father receives. Because when the baby finally sleeps, you aren't sleeping—you’re doing the dishes, staring at the monitor, or wondering if you’ll ever feel like a functioning human being again. In this episode of Dad and Then What, we’re talking about the physical and mental toll of the "no-sleep" phase. We get into the raw, sleep-deprived moments that nobody pu...
1 Mar 2026
Episode 3: The "Bad Cop" Burden
The Exhausting Tug-of-War Between "Fun Dad" and the "Bad Cop" We all want to be the dad who builds the fort, says "yes" to the extra scoop of ice cream, and starts the living room wrestling matches. But then... the chaos hits. Someone has to enforce the bedtime, someone has to say "no," and someone has to be the one who actually keeps the house from burning down. In this episode of Dad and Then What, we’re getting honest about the struggle to balance these two versions of ourselves. We talk a...
1 Mar 2026
Episode 2: The Shadow of Dad Guilt
Why It Follows Us Everywhere Whether you’re at the office, in the gym, or even just sitting on the couch after the kids are finally asleep, there’s a quiet voice in the back of your head asking: Am I doing enough? Should I be doing more? In this episode of Dad and Then What, we’re tackling the heavy hitter: Dad Guilt. We get honest about the pressure to be the "perfect" provider, the "present" parent, and the "supportive" partner—all at the same time. We dive into the real talk around: The "D...
1 Mar 2026
Episode 1 - The expectations vs. The Reality
Expectations, Labor, and the First 21 Days We all have a "movie version" of fatherhood in our heads before the baby arrives. We imagine the perfectly packed hospital bag, the calm drive to the ward, and that instant, magical glow the moment we become a "Dad." Then, reality hits. In our debut episode of Dad and Then What, we’re pulling back the curtain on the gap between what we expected and what actually went down. We dive deep into: The Waiting Game: The weird, anxious headspace of those fin...
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