Dadhood Begins: Zach’s About to Be a Dad

Becoming a dad changes everything — and in this episode, Zach Berthold opens up about the emotions, excitement, fears, and unforgettable moments leading up to fatherhood. From hilarious stories and honest reflections to the reality of preparing for a baby, this conversation dives deep into what it really means to step into “DADHOOD.”

Whether you’re already a parent, expecting your first child, or just here for the laughs and real-life conversation, this episode delivers authenticity, humor, and heart.

Topics include:

• Preparing mentally for fatherhood
• The emotions of becoming a parent
• Relationships and life changes
• Funny moments and unexpected realities
• Advice, fears, and excitement before the baby arrives

🎧 Listen now and join the conversation about family, growth, and the wild ride into dad life.

Thanks for listening to the DADHOOD Podcast. If this episode resonated with you, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another dad who’s figuring it out one day at a time.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Look who we have here with us on the Dad Hood Podcast. The creator of the intro of the Dad Hood Podcast. Let's go, Zach. Or Zebra. Zebra.

SPEAKER_02 0:15

So we got to tell a story because we thought we were pretty clear yesterday at coffee when we were talking about doing the show today. We were like, okay, so and you brought up Zach. And we're like, well, let's send him a video and see if we can get him here on the show.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

If he's down, and it was super last minute. And we're like, hey, we're going to be recording anyway. Yeah. I was like, Zach, you wouldn't. I guess we didn't say, Would you like to be a guest on the show?

SPEAKER_02 0:36

We were just like, We want to see you here at 10 30. I was like, man, who these guys got on?

SPEAKER_01 0:40

I can't wait to see who they got. I thought I was gonna be sitting over there, like listening in, like, oh man, dropping some knowledge on dadhood. Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Zach pulls up and he's like, So what are we doing? Who's on? It's like you, bro. He thought he was here to help move. He was like, I had no idea.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

Moving the hot tub or the cold plunge.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Yeah. Frankie and Thomas say, drop what you're doing and come up on a Thursday. I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:03

But your response coming back was like, I got a day job. That's so funny.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

We just figured it was like he's not showing up. Yeah, I was like, these guys invite me up to hang out on a Thursday. I'm gonna do it. So here I am.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

He walks in and he's thinking, well, maybe we're gonna have like one of the mammoth players. Yeah. And from the from our hockey team here. Like, you know, there's a lot of young dads on there. Yeah. Like, no, it's just us, man. It's actually you. Yeah. I'm not even a dad yet.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

Not yet. Dude, that is like T minus, though.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Yeah. Couple weeks. We were talking about you a couple of weeks. I think what a three about three weeks ago. The state that you're in right now, because we can remember that, but it's been a minute for both of us. So how are you feeling?

SPEAKER_01 1:39

You know, just trying to grip it and rip it. Don't get too high, don't get too low. I'm sure you guys know the feeling. Yeah. Yeah. You know, half of you is uh soiling yourself, the other half of you is thinking about all the miracles that you're gonna be able to witness, which is pretty fun.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

But it's the fear of the unknown. That like that's the whole thing, is like, yeah, you know, no matter what people like, no matter what we say, other people say, family says, you only know what you know. You're about to be a first-time father, so it's like I get it, like being in the head, like holy shit, what is about to happen? Yeah, your life is gonna change, but in a good way. But it is, you know, it can be tough, but it's it's so worth it, dude.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Yeah, that's what everybody says. I think that's the most consistent thing I hear is it's tough, but you're gonna love it. It's gonna be the best thing that ever happened to you. Yeah, it's tough, but it's insanely cool.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

Yeah, there are a lot of butts that get thrown around during this time for some reason. Poopy butts. Yeah, a whole you're gonna be dealing with a lot of butts.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Not a butt, George. Yeah, I'm looking for looking, I guess I'm looking forward to that part too. I mean, even just finding out that we're gonna have a baby, it almost felt like uh an instant mental change. Almost, almost immediately. I mean, to the point where I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but this is the craziest experience I had. I literally woke my wife up in bed because I was laughing so hysterically during a dream. So something purged, something something put got put on easy mode in my subconscious.

SPEAKER_02 2:59

Where is this after you found out about it? This is after I found out about it. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

And I've noticed that. I'm starting to laugh a lot more. I love that. Everything that was important, I was like, oh wow. There's something, there's another layer to this what's important in my little perspective. It's been an awesome growth experience. It's been a fun eight and a half, almost nine months.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

Can you tell us like how it all went down as far as the news when Camille told you? And like, just or is it yeah, it's kind of private. We're cool with it.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

No, no, you're fine. So um, it's kind of a long story, but long story short, um, my wife planned a uh surprise trip for me for my birthday. She was like, hey, we're going somewhere, pack a bag for three days. You're not gonna know till we go to the airport. That type of scenario. That's awesome. I do too. That's so awesome. I do like that kind of thing. I was like, okay, that's pretty cool. Yeah, I'm just don't have to think about anything. Got to pack a bag, kind of freaking out.

SPEAKER_02 3:52

Is it one of those where you gotta pack like a winter coat, a bathing suit? So you don't know.

SPEAKER_00 3:55

Yeah, did she give you like top of like, hey, yeah, bring a short, bring some shorts, bring some pants? Okay. Oh, so it was amazing.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

Gave me kind of like it's not San Francisco, but San Francisco-esque weather. Oh, yeah. So I was like, okay, kind of new. Okay. So, anyways, um, the morning we're leaving for this trip, our cat gets sick. Go to the vet. Cat needs to be watched for the next, you know, three days, get medicine three times a day. Wife's freaking out because we're supposed to leave on an airplane here in about three, four hours. So I look at her and I go, I don't know where we're going. I don't have to go. And when the wife says, No, you're going, there's people waiting for you. I was like, Are you sure we can cancel it? She's like, Nope, this has been in motion, you're going. So I go on this birthday trip. I end up in Portland. She got us a nice hotel downtown. Two of my best friends are there waiting for me. Got tickets to go to a show, got this whole itinerary. My poor wife couldn't be a part of.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Oh, so she stayed. So she stayed.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

So I go on this trip on my own. I'm like, okay, this is cool, but my wife planned all this. Like it's you know how it is. It's fun to do things with your partner, especially when you find the one, right? It's like, this is cool, but there's another layer with your person. So, anyways, long story short, I guess while I'm away, somebody started getting a little feeling like something's a little off. Something's a little different, my wife. So she goes and gets a test, she finds out that she's pregnant. So, meanwhile, I'm getting texts. I'm like, oh, she's a little emotional, but she'll probably bummed she's not coming. Doesn't tell me until I walk through the door from this trip. So, did she know prior?

SPEAKER_00 5:26

Yeah, that's all I was gonna say. Was this gonna be part of the trip? Like, no. This was while you were gone, she went to the doctors.

SPEAKER_01 5:32

She the next day after I left, because I think it was a forty trip. She goes, she goes, she gets a test, buys another test, buys another test, and she's like, Holy cow, this is real. So I come back and keep in mind, this is this is this is my birthday weekend. Yeah. So I come back on the 22nd of August with a little present on the table. I'm like, oh, that's sweet. She got me something. It's a little onesie with like little zebras on it. I'm like, no way. Wow. So it's probably one of the coolest birthday presents I've ever received. It's stunk that my wife couldn't be there on the trip, but I I you know it's kind of crazy. Everything kind of happens for a reason, right?

SPEAKER_00 6:05

So Bro, that was a that was a stacked on stack moment. Because I was thinking, you're coming back, you're feeling like fresh from hanging out with your friends, being in this cool city, like going to a show, all that. And then there's another gift, and you're like, damn, another, another one. But this is a whole kind of was level.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

It's kind of, I mean, it was within our control, but I mean, I don't think I mean my our cat got sick for a reason. Wow. I mean, we would have gone and had some drinks, and you know, who who knows, especially that early, how it could affect pregnancy. I mean, you can pull that through it a million different ways.

SPEAKER_02 6:33

Did you feel like you said you you could feel like she was a little emotional texting on that trip? Like, did you think that that maybe, or or your mind wasn't going to make she's pregnant or it wasn't going that way? Okay, it wasn't. You're just like, okay, she's going through, and it could be the cat. You're thinking more the cat-like she's dealing with all this.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Well, no, she had this whole beautiful itinerary plan for this birthday trip. She's not able to be there. And she wasn't able to be there. So we took pictures, got her gifts. Like it so I was like, I'd be bummed too, because Portland is pretty, pretty darn cool place, especially Canon B 22. Is it Canon? Yeah, where we drove out. So that that's how I found out. I was like, hell yeah. My work here's done. Yeah, you know, I was like, still got it. Hasn't even started yet, my friend.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

Yeah, but you just got the welcome notice. Right. That's what that is. Yeah, well, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

Welcome to dadhood for uh for all you veterans out there. But um, you know, it was it is uh it was a beautiful moment. Excitement, like, oh shit.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

Yeah, like oh yeah, there is that.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

There's that. It's it's re at that point, it's like, okay, the shit's getting real. So and even that early, you know, you all the negatives start going through your head. Like, what if something happens? Because you we're exposed to all the negative stories a lot more than like the beauty of all of it. So human nature.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

I think most people go to the negative first, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

Dude, so I'm an overthinker. The moment like I get a big piece of news like that, like it will be like stoked for a second, and then I just start running every scenario. Like, how was it with you after you had like seen the onesie? You're holding it, you realize what's happening, maybe had your awesome moment with Camille, and then it's like did your mind just start running to now what? Like, what am I gonna do?

SPEAKER_01 8:11

Yes and no. I mean, I was lucky enough to my wife and I we we met late by a lot of standards, like 30 after 30. So we we kind of we've been talking about it for a while, right? So a lot of that was already going through my head, like, oh man, I gotta level up, I got all these expectations. So a lot of that was already there, and I've kind of figured out how to like navigate those in a healthy way. Um, but obviously, I mean, my brain goes from one end of the spectrum to like I gotta do more now to this is gonna be the best thing ever. Just grip it and rip it, it's gonna be fine. You got a great foundation, and more importantly, I I mean, I have I mean, the woman I married and having a kid with, I I'm very lucky the fact that it was very intentional and I have an incredible partner. Like I think that that really does kind of put me to relief. Like, I'm a good person, we're both busting our butts. She's an incredible person, she's busting her butt, and she can be the best mother of a child I can imagine. So that's so cool, dude.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

And it is cool that you guys start because I think that's one of the things where, especially where we live here in Utah, it's in the culture where people get married extremely young. Oh my gosh. You know, you're uh in a sense, almost a kid yourself, and you're having kids. So I think waiting, whether that was intentional or not, like the or just you know, the way the cards played out in your life, I think it's great.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

I think for us it worked out great. I mean, my wife grew up in Wyoming and a little bit in Utah around that culture out here. But I grew up in like San Francisco, where I don't think a lot mo I think average, most people don't have kids until after 35. Yeah. Sure. Just because of where you live and the dynamic of your careers and you know, cost of everything there. So we kind of went into this relationship coming from really two different angles. And um, I think just the fact that we were able to meet at the time of our lives that we did, a lot of the um with a lot of logic was there. And we're able to express our emotions, whether it was, you know, pressure or you know, the way we grew up. I'm trying to articulate what it was like. But we were just we just were able to find common ground because I think at our age we we learned how to communicate with other adults. Because you're young, you don't. Yeah, it's all it's a lot more action than thinking, I know from experience, but yeah, it's exciting.

SPEAKER_02 10:25

So, what about coming up with a name? Because we were talking about names and stuff. So you guys have you've decided on a name? Yeah, decided on a name.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

Um and was that like how was that process between you guys? Well, I mean, when we first met and we're like, yeah, we're gonna be together, we're gonna get married, we're gonna have kids. Um, we both had in our head that we're gonna have a girl. I I've known this since I was little. I was like, I have three brothers, like the universe is gonna throw me a curveball and give me a girl. And um, my wife was like, uh Olive. Olive has always been the name in her head for her daughter. So you thought you both thought you were gonna have a girl? 100%. That's funny.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

Dude, that is funny because it's like I think we had talked about it. I think a portion of you, and correct me if I'm wrong on this, kind of wanted a girl. I wanted, I was thinking maybe one of my two to be a girl. I thought Jackson was a hundred percent. Really? Yeah. Until the ultrasound, I'm like, dude, bro, come on.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

First thing when they said that we're having a boy, I was like, this he's gonna break my shit. That's the first thing I thought of because I broke my dad's shit. Like, I was always breaking his shit.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

Anyway, okay. So that's the that's so that's the funny part is like we both, I think even before we met each other just growing up, I think we both had in our head to work and have a girl. But funny enough, I mean, we've we started the process of trying to to have a child, like intentionally, you know, going after it. And uh I had a dream. I I don't remember it at all, but I woke up this one morning, I think it might have been a Saturday. I woke up, came out, said hello to my wife. You know, we're doing our morning routine. I said, We're having a boy. Like something I just had this lightning bolt and this like warmth feeling. I even feel it now. It was like, damn, we were wrong. We're gonna have a boy. Sure enough, my wife was thinking on it. She's like, Man, I kind of think you're right. So fast forward, you know, you can find out the gender within like a week now of when you send in your blood test, and she's like, Oh, we're having a boy.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

That's cool. That is so awesome, dude. So the name, like, how was that?

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Like that whole thing with the name. So the name, um, I had it in my head if we're gonna have a boy. Um, my grandpa's name is George, my dad's name is George. I'm very tight with my dad and look up to their they're just very good role models in our in my life. And um, I was like, it has to be George the Third. And my wife was on board with that. So George Thomas. G three G T. Yeah, yeah. That's cool. So luckily, I had a little bit of say there. When it came to the girl, I had zero say. So yeah, I'm excited. That is that's fire. Middle name was vetoed. My dad's name is George Edward. Understandably, it doesn't really roll off the tongue for most folks. A little heartfelt for us in the family. So um, we agreed Thomas is a middle name.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

That's your middle name, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 12:57

It's my middle name. Yeah, um, just about every Thomas I've met is pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

So like GT3. GT.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

Like just GT. We're into cars in my family, like it works.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

So George is knocking on the door of life right now. It's like I am, I mean, Camille keeps saying she's like, he's he needs to come out. And the 27th is going to happen whether before or not, right? Like that's context.

SPEAKER_02 13:20

Just want to say we're recording this on the 16th.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

On the 16th. So we're talking, oh my gosh. 11 days. T minus 11 days at max. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

And the look that you have on your face, I we can both relate to that. It's a lot, you know. We're both kind of in the same mindset. It's like, let's let's start the end node. Yeah, yeah. You know, let's get there. It's kind of like uh clip diving. You can only look at it for so long before you're like, all right, you gotta send it or it's not gonna happen. The thing with this is it's gonna happen. We all do it. Can I get you anything? Can I do anything? And her response is, yeah, give me a scalpel. Let's do this. Yes, yeah. We're both uh we're eager to get going on it.

SPEAKER_00 13:53

That's such a fascinating moment because you said that like the difference between jumping off the cliff. You do have the choice to walk back. Yeah, but this one. This one, it's coming regardless. But it's still that same anticipation feeling.

SPEAKER_01 14:05

It's kind of cool though. It is kind of cool having something in your life that you know is inevitable. Yeah. And you don't have a say in any of it, and you can accept it, and it's beautiful. It's something that you like, I actually want or you actually desire. It's like, oh, okay, I just gotta be patient.

SPEAKER_02 14:21

Well, and it goes back to the we talk about control a lot, you know, and like there's so little in your life that you can control, like in this situation, and this is something that you guys want, yeah, but it's just it's almost back to the you just have to surrender to it, embrace it instead of trying to fight and maybe going down those rabbit holes of what we're talking about before, like what if this, or you know, we don't have enough money or whatever. You go through all that shit, right? All the negative stuff, just lean into it and and surrender to it. Like, this is gonna be a good thing, a great thing. Yeah, you know?

SPEAKER_01 14:51

I mean, that's the one thing you can control, it's kind of your mindset, right? About anything. Exactly. So luckily that sticks in my head, and that's awesome, you know, can kind of stay as grounded as possible with something so big about to happen.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

So, how has Camille's pregnancy been through this? Like, is it has she been getting sick or like as far and I know, like, because I can speak for Tammy, for the most part, we she had a really good pregnancy. She got maybe a little sick here and there, but nothing crazy. And she wasn't I mean, I guess she obviously she's more emotional, but it was a pretty smooth until the end we had like a long labor, and and even that said he was fine. Yeah, it was like a 29-hour labor. Uh how right? Yeah, it's a long, long time.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

Yeah, I mean, not to downplay, you know, the experience that as guys we have zero fucking clue what they're going through. Absolutely. But we can be supportive and remind them that we're dumb, we have no idea what you're going through, but I got your back.

SPEAKER_02 15:44

Yeah, run into the store at 11:30 at night, you know, like I'll get you whatever you need. And that was, I remember like Tammy was like, I want some peanut butter, whatever it was, cereal, the certain type of cereal. And I was like, okay, I can do that. Yeah, and she's like, but it's 11:30. I'm like, let me fucking. That's the cool part.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Like, that's us being like, we're doing our role.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

She's like, Are you sure? I'm like, I'm positive. She's like, You know, there's certain stores that I went to like four or five different stores at 11:30 at night trying to find this cereal purpose. Yeah. That's the least I can do. Yeah, you're making a kit, dude.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

And you walk into that store with a little extra swag, and you're like, I'm doing something big right now. Come in the eyes. Where's your peanut butter? This guy's on a mission.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Um, yeah, so not to downplay her experience, but um, honestly, exactly I expected smooth. Yeah, very smooth. Obviously, a lot of discomfort in this stage. You can only imagine with uh a little alien growing inside. But um, no, uh, I I think overall pretty smooth. I I think for Camille being such a busybody, walk in the morning, go to the gym, run errands, like just kick an ass and take names. I think um the one thing I noticed is just really just being vocal about it's okay to slow down a little bit. Your body is changing right now. Like it's okay to give yourself a little bit of grace, especially now. You need to. You got a whole nother agenda happening inside of you.

SPEAKER_02 17:02

So well, that's a good piece of like advice right there, insight that you had it slowing down because it took me, you know, by getting fired three plus years ago to like it was like the universe saying you need to slow down. Yeah, dude. Because when you get in, you know, we all are in that machine of life. Oh, trust me, I'm in it. Just what you said though, if you can kind of keep that and hold on to it as you have your baby when little George comes and you guys are like, you know what, we're gonna we're gonna enjoy this and try to be as present as you can. Yeah, because that's that's it. Cause you it's easy to get back into that mode and like and I and I get it, like because you get there's the fear of I have to provide like financially. Yeah, but you only need so much, dude.

SPEAKER_00 17:43

You know what I mean? You don't need so much half of what they tell you you need, dude. Exactly. And to your point, we are so good, like, I don't know about you guys, I'm so good at handing out the advice. Like, you need to slow down.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

Meanwhile, it's like that was literally what was gonna be my next thought is it's really easy to give that advice to my wife, but you know, I I have a day job, I want to kick ass and take names until that until that bell rings. So it's gonna be um that's the one thing that I'm interested to experience. It's oh, I'm on paternity leave and I have this to focus on, not the hustle and bustle, everything like the career, like the music stuff, all of that's gonna be on pause, which is gonna be, I think, gonna be my version of what my wife was going through, where oh, these attachments are they real? Are they valid? And the most of them can be, but also is my belief around those attachments really in the right place now that I'm raising a child with my wife and providing for a family. So that's gonna be the that's gonna be the fun part. We'll check in in like a month afterwards and I'll I'll update you on that. But that's gonna be interesting, slowing down for something completely bigger than myself, yeah, ourselves.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

One thing we we were even saying before you you showed up is like I'm glad you're here in this moment right now, sharing this with us. Yeah, because the probability of you, I mean, and this is nothing against like your employer or anything, but the probability of probably even being with that company five, six years down the road is so minuscule, especially these days, because you're just growing, you're doing, you're evolving. Yeah, right. And I remember looking back and being so upset at the way that I gave my energy to my job during those those moments that I should have just been more present. Yeah, I was definitely not being compensated enough and or emotionally supported enough in those moments to realize it then. But now looking back, I'm like, dude, I would have cut all of that.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

That's one of the most common by sight here. Is like honestly, nothing else is important. Dude, really. It's really hard from my perspective to be like, we get that. Well, I got a bunch of you know, ships that are going at different paces right now. I got a lot of things cooking, a lot of plates to spin. Yeah. It's like, and that's the moment I'm talking about is I'm gonna have that aha moment. Like, this is way cooler. Right. This baby, this scene my wife being mother, like it's gonna be the there's gonna be so many of those moments, as you guys probably know, probably more than you can ever count in a lifetime.

SPEAKER_02 20:03

But um are you getting unsolicited advice with the exception of us?

SPEAKER_01 20:07

Uh like outside right now. Are you getting a lot of that? Well, the cool part is the advice I get is always prefaced with don't listen to anybody, but here's how we did it. You know, so um but that's pretty good. That's awesome. Yeah, you know, the the the folks, I mean, even co-workers and people you know you don't know outside of work and family. Um, the advice has been well, is it's been great. I mean, the number one thing, even you guys have said this multiple times, is like just enjoy it. You're good, like you don't have a choice, you're going to enjoy it, like lean into it. But that's really the common denominator is like one, this is your first, you don't know anything, and that's okay. Two, enjoy every mo every second you get. That's how most people should probably live, anyways, right? Like for sure.

SPEAKER_02 20:48

I I think, and we talked about this, I think, on the episode when we were talking about Zach. I love every stage, including like when he was an infant, and you're changing him like 20 times a day, you know, like every time you turn around, there's something in the diaper or whatever. But I loved it. I truly did. I loved the fact that I had a for however many minutes a little captive audience, and that is like I talked to him. This is before he was talking, and you know, you're making eye contact, and you know, you're just doing your little whatever, your routine. I loved it.

SPEAKER_01 21:17

I love the thought of that. I have one thing that came to mind when you're saying that is you know, I feel like I'm at a place right now where I know for a fact I have a couple other gears to shift into, and I think this is gonna get me into those other gears. There is definitely a plateau of growth. Not to say I wouldn't grow without a child by any means, but I think this is gonna be an incredible experience for myself as like a man and as an individual in a number of different ways. A lot of lessons, probably hard times, but also um I'm excited just to see just the level, just a different gear of focus, of intention. You know, I mean I'm already feeling it, and the little guy's not even here yet, which I'm like, wow, I bet this is just a sprinkle of like this entire cake of what's gonna come out of me. Like, I cannot wait to be a dad. I'm I'm stoked about it. It.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

I'm sure I'm gonna have this motion like cursing here and there, but but there definitely is to what you're talking about this different gear because there's those moments where you're like, I just don't feel like doing this. And because you look at them, you're like, no, shift it and off you go. How good of a feeling is that? That's purpose.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

Yeah, that's that's a reason. Yeah, and I I don't know, I think as a guy, we kind of need to create that for ourselves or or find it in different places.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

So it's happened for me in weird times. Like it will be like I'll be out on a run and I'm wanting to walk, and I look around. There's no one that would give a shit if I just started walking in that moment. And I'm like, if my boy saw me right now and I started walking, how would I feel about that? And I just am like, I don't give a shit how tired I am, and I just keep jogging. And it's those kind of moments that I'm like, that's weird. Because when you don't have that, you don't have somebody else to push for like that.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

It's like one more rep, one more rep is something, or maybe I should get that extra rest, or maybe that's not important. I mean, it who knows? I I have no idea what what the uh the answers are gonna be that I receive or the the questions that even come up. But yeah, right now I just really try to think about what I can control and and that's just um taking it easy. Yeah, don't let myself get too high, yeah, don't get too low, don't let the you know pull the strings of the what ifs and the negatives, and it's just try to be in this moment. And this is cool. I can't wait to re-watch this like in five years and be like, wow, that guy knew nothing. So it's it's it's been a cool experience.

SPEAKER_02 23:30

Well, and give yourself grace. Because if like, you know, if you're wanting to to go into like the day and it's and it doesn't, shit happens, right? Just shit happens literally and figuratively. Like, you just don't put like pressure, like just give yourself grace, like both of you guys. Nobody knows that's the thing. Nobody knows, like first-time parents, what the hell is gonna happen? You can read all the books, you can go to the classes, whatever, until you're in it and you figure it out. Because it was just the fear of the unknown. Like, and then I had this what if I don't connect with them?

SPEAKER_00 23:57

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:58

That was like, what if I don't connect with my own kid? And then I started kind of going down the road or like the rabbit hole of that of like, well, that would force me to be introspective. Why aren't I connecting with my child? That's something that I can control. Like, what do I need to do to connect? You know, so it was all that.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

That's exactly where my my thought goes. It's you know, what if, what if we don't bond? It's like immediately goes to, well, how would we bond? And I'm sure at every day is an opportunity to learn a different layer of that. I mean, I'm thinking, like, you know, your brain goes, What about when I have a you know this? What you know this too? What if I when I have a 16, 17-year-old getting their license and they're doing some something silly?

SPEAKER_02 24:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:36

We gotta play good cop, bad cop, me and mom. But in the back of my head, I'm like, oh man, that was hilarious. You want to set a good example for sure. So maybe finding the balance of, you know, what does discipline look like, but also how do you also provide that love and that support and give them as many tools in the tool belt that they can pull from? I I just want my child, my son, it's gonna be sick, to grow up, just being very creative, understand the importance of competition, but also that's a tool to get you to the next step. But ultimately just being creative and and trying to find solutions rather than uh, you know, pointing fingers. I mean, I don't know how I'll articulate that, but I think the best advice I ever got was just lead by example, realize you got a camera on, you're probably 24-7 for a while where you are the example. Do your best. Yeah, and that can provide a lot of stress and a lot of work. Yeah, it can be pretty heavy. You know, it can be pretty heavy. Like you are the example. I think also uh one of my favorite moments, um, especially with like the other men I've grown up with, my father included, is some of those lessons came from seeing them stumble, seeing how they reacted to it. Yeah, how they handled it, how they handled that. And sometimes it was indirect where you kind of just got to watch things unfold and it's like, oh, there's a good lesson there, which I didn't know was happening to me. Other times it was a direct conversation, which is like, oh wow, this guy's spitting some knowledge. Yeah. At the time I didn't appreciate it, but now looking, you know, at this age now, what I'm embarking on, start to appreciate it a little bit more. So yeah, it's kind of that fine balance of like remember to lead by example, but also give yourself grace because just because this is this life is starting doesn't mean your growth doesn't end. Try to remember myself the best I can. Dude, is your dad stoked? He's gotta be stoked. Oh, he's so stoked. And I mean, when we told him our name, and I'm basically after him, you know. Um, he can't he still can't believe it. Every time I see him, he's asking, is it really George? Is it I'm like, yes, that's awesome. It's pops. It's pops. And I I like that. I I think um the legend of my grandpa, not that he's a legend, but um he there's a lot of cool stories, and I only got to know him up to I have memories of him up until I was about like four or five, but I remember him. And I remember seeing all his he was a firefighter in San Francisco, like my dad. And I would see all the pictures of him and all the news articles and all his injury reports, and all you know, you just you it's kind of cool to have that kind of like story and that role model. And then my dad, for instance, he's a firefighter and his stories. I think it's just gonna be kind of cool to get asked those questions, like, what was grandpa like? Who was great grandpa? And I kind of like the idea of a legacy. I kind of like the idea of like, yeah, we're in Utah, but you have in your blood, you're used to Wyoming, and then you're also San Francisco, you're also the bay. I I can't wait to see their face when they feel the fog in California for the first time and try not to have put expectations on it, but be like, You like this? Pretty cool. But maybe it isn't. Maybe like, oh, F this, I want to go back to Salt Lake.

SPEAKER_02 27:17

Who knows? It's gonna be cool. But it's exposing them. That's the beauty of it. Exposing them to things that you know that you have in your life and some things they gravitate towards and some things they won't. But it's the beauty of just exposing your kid to everything. It is, it's it there's something magical about that.

SPEAKER_00 27:33

And the way that you were saying that too, like the legacy. Yeah, we talk about that constantly because society gets that skewed a little bit, that the legacy is what you leave behind. But you're talking about the real Yeah, you're talking about the real legacy is how you make people feel. Yeah. Like feeling that core of who the essence of their family was and and bringing the like the spiritual, that spirit element to it.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

It took me so long to learn that. I mean, it's in it's cool to chase a goal that's on paper, but when and it took me a long time to realize, but how does that what does that feel like when you accomplish it? Like I have goals now, and does this goal I write down make me feel something? And once you understand that feeling and you can replay that, then you know what to chase. You're not chasing what those the text is or what it looks like. You're taking that feeling is gonna be your compass. And it took me a really long time to learn that for myself. I'm I'm hoping I can lead by example. Like, what is this? Like, ask those questions like maybe we go to Disneyland, it's like, what does this feel like? How do we feel this again? Or they see a really cool car, they get excited, or they're doing art, or whatever where you see excitement, and then don't take away from their excitement, but also ask them, what can we do to do this again? Not just the action, but what other things make you feel this way? Ask that question. Because I don't think most men get asked that. I don't get asked, I never got asked that. I had to learn that myself, right?

SPEAKER_00 28:48

Yeah, because we shy away from don't have feelings, don't feel anything, dude. Tough it up. You're a guy, you don't feel anything, but we're all about that. Like life is meant to be felt. Absolutely. And you're good or bad, good and good, good or bad.

SPEAKER_02 29:00

Yeah, like even like grief, and we talk about that. I mean, you you don't know what love is unless you go through grief. I mean, it's all you gotta feel.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

And dude, you were stepping into one of the most beautiful phases that I wish I was able to kind of step back into, meaning from this point on in George's life till about you know, nine, ten-ish. Like, you are a superhero, period. Dad can do, be, is everything.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:25

And then, and then now I'm in the dad doesn't know shit phase. But that's okay. Like, I'm I'm here for that too. Yeah, I know. Circle, it will come back, it will come back around, right?

SPEAKER_02 29:34

You know, just hope that they come back around. Yeah, and maybe you won't, but you know, but I remember being that, like it was probably about you know, what, 13, 14 till about 18, where my dad didn't know shit. You know, I was like, you don't know what you're talking about, right? Probably I would say maybe 14 to 18, so good four years of that. Yeah, and then I was around I think 19 when I actually said it to my dad. I was like, I just want to say sorry, you you absolutely knew what you were talking about. Yeah. So or maybe I think that was actually 21 when I said it. I think I was starting to think at it about 18 or 19, like, holy shit. He does know what he was talking about. But I I did say it to him, and I remember him like just he didn't say anything, but I was just like, dude, you absolutely knew what you were talking about. So I appreciate it. Yeah, man. You know, yeah, that's it. Do you remember having those thoughts like with your dad? Like, or I think we all had that. I mean, all that time, right? I mean, you don't know what you're talking about. I know more than you. I'm 15.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

I I think I was also fortunate. I kind of understood that like um my relationship with my family in general, you know, having two older brothers and a younger brother, but also like my dad specifically, like I I was I was really fortunate because a lot of a lot of the I I knew there was a lot of kids that I grew up with that didn't really have the same relationship. You know, they didn't they didn't they just act differently around their dad than I did, which is totally normal. They probably had great relationships with them. Um but you know, the relationships can be complicated in general. But yeah, I mean to this day, I'm like, holy cow, like I knew nothing. How did you do that? Right. How did you like uh raise kids in like one of the most hectic expensive places in the world? And he tells me like how he got into certain like we lived on the Presidio in San Francisco at a time when civilians, like normal people couldn't, but we lived like two minutes away from the firehouse. You drive down the road, it's literally a scenic lookout to the Golden Gate Bridge. Wow, and I have all these memories growing up, and things like that. When I go back there, I'm like, what the fuck did this dude do this? How did you pull this off, man? How did you pull that off? And then we moved to a beautiful place, uh, Pacifica, California, and I'm like, man, five-minute bike ride to the beach every day? How how did you pull this off? So yeah, 100%. I'm like, there's a lot I don't know. And even now it's like, there's a lot I don't know about supporting a family. Like, that's the that's like you talk about the financial burden, you get kind of nervous. I mean, I got some good examples and good resources in my life. Um, but that's the part I'm like, man, whether he did it intentionally or not, he provided a pretty darn cool experience growing up. Like a lot of good pictures in my brain, visually and feelings growing up, both my parents. Um that's something to keep in mind and be mindful of, you know. That's something to Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:17

You're doing it though, bro. I mean, like, honestly, look at the backdrop of where you live and stuff. You're creating that version also, you know.

SPEAKER_01 32:27

Absolutely. Can only pretend I know what to expect, but uh yeah, he's gonna have a good time. I'm gonna make sure he has a really fun, uh, fun life. That's for sure. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 32:35

Are you excited for you guys? You guys are gonna be amazing parents, you're gonna be an amazing dad. We gotta have him back in like what, maybe three months or something like that. Three months.

SPEAKER_01 32:42

My hair's all frazzled again.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

Yeah, we will give him six and three, dude. You don't know what's happening. He'll still be in the vlog. Hey, make sure you check out dadhood.co. You can find out more about our nonprofit dadhood. Absolutely. And then, of course, we're on Apple uh podcast and Spotify. Spotify. Check out the dadhood podcast.

SPEAKER_00 32:59

Check us out, Zach. Thanks again, brother. Dude, thanks, guys. Good luck, man.

SPEAKER_02 33:02

We're thinking about you. We love you. Yeah, love you.