DadPack Newsletter, Volume I

Dear Dads,

Welcome to the first iteration of the Dadpack Newsletter, your weekly dose of the best content the internet has to offer fathers. We will be serving up plenty of evidence-based parenting tips, health advice, gear recommendations, financial guidance and more. The goal is to give you everything you need to not be a shitty dad, and maybe have some fun along the way.

And like raising a kid, developing a newsletter takes a village, and that is where your feedback comes into play. We want to know what your biggest and smallest questions about parenting are – your victories, struggles, anxieties, and fears. What has helped you on your worst days? How do you celebrate your better ones?

Let us know how we’re doing, what you’d like to see more or less of, and if there are too many cheesy jokes or salty snark, we’ll adjust the recipe. The point is, we’re here for you, and looking forward to the wild ride, even if your backseat has been marinating in toddler slobber and goldfish crumbs for months.

In the meantime, we’ve got your nose.

And by that, we mean your attention.

This week from Dadpack:

• What Fatherhood Does To Your Brain- New research reveals that pregnancy doesn't just alter women's brains, and new dads experience temporary changes as well.

• Crypto Dad: How To Handle Fake Money (When You Have Not Mastered Real Money)- What dads need to know if they're gambling men but prefer to take their chances with fake money.

• Crypto Secrets- Meet the husbands who lie to their spouses about crypto. What could possibly go wrong?

• Dispatches From Daddit- We found this week's the best dad-post Reddit, so you don't have to.

• A Brief Baseball Shaming- Everyone gather around and congratulate yourself for not being this guy.

• Halloween Jokes And Grandpa Gifs- A little more internet fodder to get your through the week.

• Don't Worry, Be A Dad- When it comes to fatherhood, freaking out will get you absolutely nowhere.

This Is Your Brain On Fatherhood

If you were to recreate the “This is Your Brain on Drugs” commercial from the 1980s in order to demonstrate the neurological effects of fatherhood, you wouldn’t need a stove or a cast iron skillet. You would just need a slightly smaller egg, because a new study suggests a man’s brain can shrink after having a baby.

Scientists aren’t referring to the same kind of cold-water shrinkage from old Seinfeld episodes, but a complex neurological phenomenon that occurs in parts of the brain that control things like how you pay attention, what you remember, and how you see the world around you.

Researchers discovered this after comparing the brain scans of 40 first-time fathers, both before and after their children were born, to the brains of 17 men without children. The results revealed that the cortex, or outer layer of the brain, shrunk slightly, along with the visual and default mode networks. However, this only happened after men became parents and no such changes were seen in men without kids.

What this means is that areas of the brain that involve attention, planning, executive functioning, processing visual information, daydreaming, thinking about the future and memory, are all in a state of flux.

In other words, it’s not just you. The first few months of fatherhood can feel like a lobotomy.

But the good news is that Darby Saxbe, a psychologist and co-author of the study, believes these changes are likely for the best, and have the potential to inspire more empathy in new dads.

“Becoming a parent entails changes to your lifestyle and your biology and requires new skills like being able to empathize with a nonverbal infant, so it makes sense — but has not been proven — that the brain would be particularly plastic during the transition to parenthood as well,” Saxbe explained in a press release.

More research needs to be done with larger sample sizes of men in order to fully prove this, but it has been well-documented that women experience changes in their brains when they become moms.

"The fact that we have found changes in the cortex both for fathers and mothers suggests that there is some remodeling of the social brain taking place," Saxbe added.

While researchers focus on future studies of the paternal brain, Saxbe shared some practical takeaways for new dads exclusively with Dadpack. For men who want to get the most out of their shrinking brains, she recommends spending as much time with your infants as possible.

“Parenting experience is the best way to develop parenting skills, and the brain also develops and changes as it acquires new experiences and opportunities to learn,” Saxbe recommends. “Taking the time to get to know your unique kids' personalities and needs is a form of learning that will help make men better fathers in the long term.”

Likewise, managing stress and prioritizing sleep and other healthy lifestyle habits like exercise and eating right, though much easier said than done, can go a long way in supporting your brain and body through such a significant transition.

Beyond that, size doesn't matter. In fact, a tinier brain might give you something to empathize with your baby about right out of the gate.

Crypto Dad: How To Handle Fake Money (When You Have Not Mastered Real Money)

As entertaining as he is, the rational response to Larry David is to do NOT as he does. This is one of the reasons why David taking a stand against cryptocurrency in a Super Bowl ad was such a smart and manipulative move by the crypto exchange FTX.

For most Curb fans, it is a Pavlovian response to do the opposite of Larry and land somewhere sane and socially acceptable. And thus, we must buy crypto.

The only problem is that Larry David was seemingly correct, and the cryptocurrency market has been declining by the trillions since this summer. But given that the crypto bubble has endured many ups and downs before, it’s hard to tell what bursting really means.

For dads who want to get in on the long game, there are a few basic tips to keep in mind, according to CPA Zachary Gordon, who is also the father of a 19-month-old. Here’s what he had to say about getting started.

So, for beginners, what in the hell is crypto?

Zachary Gordon: Cryptocurrency is a digital asset used as an alternative to dollars or other currencies to complete a transaction. They can be bought and sold similarly to a commodity on an exchange, however there are many complexities. Taxes, wallets, on-ramping and off-ramping, exchanges and trustworthy data, are all unique challenges to crypto.

What advice do you have for a new dad who’s thinking about putting some money into crypto?

ZG: You need to get used to volatility. There is never a dull moment in this industry and you must have a strong stomach. Don't panic despite what your wallet might look at any given moment.

Other than your Bitcoin balance, what are some other things rookies may panic about with crypto?

ZG: Taxes are a bit complicated for crypto. Technically any time you move crypto from a wallet to another or trade crypto, like bitcoin to ethereum, there is a taxable event. Make sure to track what you're doing!

Are there any other issues a new dad getting into crypto might experience?

ZG: Fraud is rampant! Ponzi schemes, fake coins and other schemes cooked up by bad players are common. Do your due diligence before investing in anything that isn't mainstream.

Are there any other basic rules guys need to know?

ZG: Remember to hold on to your wallet key! If you lose it, you could lose everything. There are many cases of individuals losing out on millions of dollars of crypto because they accidentally threw out a laptop or drive, or they lost their key and couldn't gain access to their wallet.

The Couples Being Torn Apart By Crypto

Whether you’re already deep in a crypto ledger or just considering dipping your toe in, remember to keep your partner in the loop. Money and trust remain two of the top, timeless reasons for divorce. So if you’re being dishonest about investing in crypto, you’re asking for martial trouble.

If you need some examples of what not to do, look no further than Reddit, where there are a number of men hiding crypto from their wives, including one guy who’s spouse confronted him after finding his journal of crypto purchases.

Most recently, user No-Knowledge2424 confessed in the CryptoCurrency subreddit that he had been lying to his wife about his income, in order to have more money to invest in crypto. Over the past six months, he’s sunk all of his extra cash into crypto and his partner is starting to notice.

Not only did he ask for guidance, but for others to share their experiences about lying to loved ones about crypto, likely so he’d feel a little less guilty and alone. In the end, the top rated comment had more to do with love than money.

“Jokes aside, communication is essential. Secrets of any kind are very bad for family relations. I would be plain and straight with your wife,” reddito321 wrote. “Also tell her you love her. Time goes fast.”

Don't Mess With Mr. Sock Ears

Speaking of Reddit, one of the top posts in the Daddit community this past week raised the crucial question: why aren’t you putting your kids' socks on your ears?

One dad outlined the following brilliant bit:

The only acceptable answer was the three little words: “I do now.”

Finally, guys have a way to get back at their sock-hating toddlers.

Don't Make Your Kid To Ask For An Autographs

As baseball season comes to a close, allow Pittsburgh Pirates player Henry Davis to remind dads to not use their kids for autographs. At least, that’s what he did for one parent earlier this month, when his son Cash admitted that he had no idea who the player was – a very honest, 6-year-old thing to do.

Davis signed his ball with “stop using you kid for autos please.”

Davis later tweeted about the matter, explaining that messages like this are to discourage memorabilia hawkers from taking his time, attention and signatures away from real fans who come out.

Tough but fair, Davis.

The Best Halloween Dad Joke

What do you call an Italian Ghost?

… A GabaGhoul

Meme Of The Week: When the student becomes the master.

Parting Paternalism

Bo isn’t your typical influencer, but the father of 6 has amassed millions of followers across multiple social media platforms, offering no-nonsense paternal advice. Whether you’re looking for how to get better gas mileage, split firewood, or cook the perfect bacon, Bo has got you covered.

But this guy really hits his stride when he tells us to stop worrying so much, because you’re just "paying interest" on problems that have yet to happen. Sure, the quote can be more loosely attributed to George Washington, who said “Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble.”

But coming from a dude on a tractor, the timeless adage just hits differently.

Until next time, don’t worry, try to stay in the present, and remember that the simplest advice is often the best, because it’s the kind that sticks.

You Got This,

The Dadpack Crew