We all understand that surprises are likely to come our way sooner rather than later. This is the practical reality of living. Everything can be going fine, until one day something unfortunate hits us, and requires us to make a change or adapt to the circumstances. Luckily, the opposite can be as frequently true. Just when we think things cannot get any better and we must grimly accept our lot in life, something amazing can come out of the blue and give us new hope and a new fresh vitality for living.

If there’s anything you can absolutely predict about life, it would be its main feature of unpredictability. No one can escape from this, unless they lived in a cotton wool house, free from harm or happiness. This is a fate worse than the ups or downs of life of course, so perhaps we have it better.

However, sometimes it can pay to be prepared in certain scenarios. While you cannot predict everything, you can prepare for some things. Doing so is a very wise path to take, especially if you are the head of a family. Functioning as a competent Dad is perhaps one of the most rewarding life paths out there, and if you visit our website it’s likely you have this in high regard. However, it doesn’t come without its efforts or preparations.

There are many difficult circumstances that can arrive in life, and some of them are harder than others. In order to give yourself a solid working knowledge of how to overcome issues, and to steer your family in the right directions, it can be a wonderful idea to prepare. In this article, we have listed some of the most common resolutions you might need to implement, either by learning a certain skill set, purchasing certain goods or finding methods to cover yourself in an unfortunate eventuality.

All of this is more than possible to achieve, so if you’re willing and able, the following tips could be implemented more completely than you might initially expect:

Preparing For The Worst

We’re going to start this article off with something that might be hard to swallow. It could be a horrifically unfortunate potential that you are harmed or otherwise very much beset by an illness. This could potentially drop one income stream from the household, which could prove very difficult for many families. For this reason, it can be essentially important to invest in Insurdinary insurance to ensure you have funding for the medical care of rectifications that could be needed.

It’s also worth saving (if possible) for a ‘rainy day’ fund. This fund is more than just for rainy days, but could help supplement your income if disability or medical allowances aren’t enough for your current household. Having money saved is always a good idea, but emergency money can be a seperate pool entirely. If you can, try and save around 10% of your paychecks. This might not be possible for some families however, so just achieve what you can.

Children & Pain

Educating your children is one of the main priorities of parenthood. Certain things they simply can not and will not learn in school. As they grow and reach double digits, it’s likely they will begin to figure some things out. For example, it might be that Grandma is suffering ill health and is having trouble seeing them. It might be that a pet is injured or goes missing. It might mean a plethora of other unfortunate circumstances, and there is no point dwelling on those potentials until they happen.

However, the first time your child is exposed to something like this, it can be very traumatic for them to handle. As a father, it’s your job to provide that strong presence, and to frankly, firmly, yet also gently teach them about the negative sides of life. For example, let’s say a pet dies. Your child knows the pet is missing. You can lie to them or tell them the pet is missing. You could say a number of things. However, practicing in advance for how to calmly and courageously help them understand might seem difficult in the immediate moment, but can lead to a much healthier mindset for them later on. They’ll thank you for it.

This doesn’t mean you should revel in the difficulties of life wherever they occur. Thankfully, those are mostly in the minority. However, being frank, open and honest about matters can help a child begin the process of working through those matters, and this leads to long term emotional and developmental health.

Dad Knowledge

It’s likely that if you have a family, you enjoy heading out with them to distant locations on road trips, or taking them on vacation when you get the chance. This is the best time you can ever spend with your family, and it’s likely you’ve waited all year for it. However, sometimes things can go wrong. It might be that your car breaks down on the side of the freeway. In this instance, it’s really important to have a working knowledge of your vehicle, and the correct toolkit to resolve matters.

This is just one example of ‘Dad knowledge’ that is so important to employ. Not all Dads are manly men who enjoy sliding under the vehicle on a skateboard and working on the engine, getting oil over their jeans and knocking back a Heineken as they wipe the sweat off their brow. However, ‘Dad knowledge’ is a thing. It’s an important skill to keep. This means being stocked with the essentials.

For example, every home needs a good toolbox. Every home needs someone who can work on their plumbing, perform surface tasks such as installing shelving units, or can work to craft a bed frame. All of these things are important to do, and will serve you well as you establish your family home. This set of skills should help you rectify matters when issues arise, such as a leaking pipe, a blown fuse or a list of many other things. At the very least, knowing how to describe the problem to a professional can help you resolve the issue rapidly, keeping your home and home life maintained for longer.

Emotional Bedrock

One of the biggest ‘unexpecteds’ of home life is just how quickly your children will grow, and just how fast the years can pass. This might sound like a cliche when in your mid 20’s. When you’re 40, you realize just how fast that time has passed. Almost anybody that age can tell you this. However, not matter how many times per day you are told this simple fact, it will never fail to surprise you.

That means the best manner of preparing for that realization is to be present with your family. Spend as much time with them as you can. Once in a while, turn down overtime if you have that luxury. Eat dinner with them at the table if you can return home from work at a good time. If you can, read bedtime stories to your children. Take them out and teach them things. Try to establish a hobby you take part in with your child or children at least once a fortnight, time permitting. Have a family movie night on the same frequency.

Of course, not all fathers can provide a massive amount of time for their families, and are instead bound by earning money to sustain them for a large portion of their week. This is wonderful. However, even a few hours spent with your children can make that time go a little more slowly, and can help you build memories that are irreplaceable and should last a lifetime.

This functions as your emotional bedrock in life, and can actually help your health and drive from day to day.

Frank & Open Discussion

A household with secrets is often a household in need of work. This means that you should always foster the open atmosphere necessary for people to talk. For example, it might be that your child is being bullied at school, but is scared to open up to you because you might scold them for ‘making mistakes’ quite frequently. It sounds unreasonable, but this can be the case in many households. This is obviously a tragedy.

If you have the willingness to open your dialogue, speak to your children as much as possible, have them open up and always provide that comfortable and stable space for them to speak, you can pinpoint issues before they begin. Any unexpected circumstance will always be made better by the willingness to talk it through, or to reveal its presence by talking it out. This might mean discussing your attitudes to alcohol frankly with your college-age daughter. It might be setting ground rules for a curfew late at night. It might mean having to punish your child for ill behaviour, but letting them know why and how those rules are in place, and what they’re there to do.

Talking will always be better than opting not to, or getting in a rut of limited communication. Families thrive when they are open with each other, so try to foster that environment.

With these tips, preparing for the unexpected in a range of manners should be nothing more than achievable, and should promote a healthy family life.