“Dad Strength”

with Dr. Nolan Clausen

The famous “dad strength” that everyone tries to figure out where it comes from. 

Most men understand what I’m talking about. That time you have exhausted all maneuvers possible to get that rusted bolt loose…. but one. 

So reluctantly, you turn to your father knowing he has this magic gift "dad strength" and that he will most likely loosen it but secretly hoping it gives him just as much trouble to prove that your hard-worked bench press numbers have finally proven relevant. 

They haven’t. 

Like you expected (or else you wouldn’t have asked) he turns that rusted bolt with ease. 

He passes the wrench back to you and says with a wink “you did all the work, you just loosened it for me.”

Knowing full well he’s still got it, he walks away with a little pep in his step and your left thinking “where the ‘F’ does that strength come from?”

It wasn’t until this week when frustrated as all get out, trying to get the scream factory to shut off did it dawn on me where this strength comes from!

Every father understands that we just simply don’t have the clutch gene that mothers have at calming a baby. When it's 2 am and your child has been screaming for 20 min you know who you're passing to to calm our child, and it's the Michael Jordan of your parental team: YOUR WIFE!

Up until that point and multiple other times you have learned that that special touch is more than just a gift; it's the ability to push through. 

Sure I could just pass my kid off to MJ and let her do all the work but you want to earn your starting spot and prove to everybody that you deserve to be on the same court as her (even though we all know, you don’t). 

Although I am in the infancy of my dad career this is my take on where "Dad Strength" comes from.

Those times of getting a fussy baby to sleep in only the most awkward positions because they have no regard for your comfort.

You’ll stand or sit in that position for what seems like an eternity but in reality has been 5 minutes bouncing, patting, rocking, swaying or whatever it takes. All while it feels as though your forearm muscles are about to tear off from your elbow because you have kept a constant pat to put them to sleep for what seems like 346 minutes straight. 

Once you think you finally sealed the deal and got them to sleep, you start to transition them to the crib only to find out that they required 347 minutes to pass completely out.

So… you start over. Knowing that your forearm is now throbbing you try to switch positions but that’s a no go. Your baby doesn’t care if your forearms are about to explode. But you belong on the court so you push through. 

You make sure that this time that they will for sure be asleep when you go to lay them down. So you do the logical thing and make sure you double up on the time you spend patting your baby to sleep. At this point your forearm muscles are numb, you are tired as hell, and you don’t give a shit... you will do what it takes to get this baby to sleep.

Once the task is accomplished, you use whatever strength you have left to give yourself a pat on the back and reassure yourself that you do in fact belong on the “court.”

After weeks of doing this day after day, your strength and endurance start to improve but so do your baby’s, so it is just a continuous loop of training that you'll carry with you the rest of your life! 

I am only a few weeks into my rookie season and I could be completely wrong but I believe this is IT!

This is where dads build their superhero talent. This is where "Dad Strength" comes from.