hi from the netherlands

[wichor]

Hello you all,

i'm a man of 35, living together with my (pregnant) girlfriend in Gouda in the Netherlands.

I do wear an occasional skirt in public. My girlfriend is quite comfortable with it. especially when we're somewhere we don't know anyone. we've been hiking, bikeriding and dining in a restaurant together in skirt. I got about 15 pieces, allmost all of them above knee, and combine them with boots and hose. i like to look masculine though, so it's not tranvestism.

Last week we were together at our home, and preparing to ride a bike (i was dubbing whether to wear my skirt or change), when our neighbour nocked on our window, and asked if she could search oud back yard for one of her birds that escaped. we let her in, and she told us about her grandchild that was born the week before and was visiting. so we were invited over to her's. i hesitated again, so aware of my MUG, but i thought let's get over it.

we entered their living and there were some men i vagely knew, and one i didn't with lots of tatoos. i felt a little uncomfortable, but no one seemed to notice. as she let us out she asked me why i wore a skirt. i said i liked the looks of it, and the way it felt. she said it looked good, and i should be able to wear whatever i was comfortable in.

greets,
Wichor

[RichardA]

Hi and welcome, and well done with your courage too
What skirt do you wear when riding your bike?? I have only worn a skort on my bike up to now

[Since1982]

Welcome Wichor. Glad to have another Capt. Courageous amongst us.

[Mipi]

You have a good neighbor.
Welcome!

[Skirt Chaser]

Hallo Wichor! Welcome to the Cafe. My husband's family is Dutch and I have always been impressed how polite, open-minded, and respectful your culture is. (And I love the food too!) The neighbor's reaction sounds typical to me and I hope you have many more positive reactions.

Do you have any skirts for the baby yet?

[AMM]

Hi and welcome, and well done with your courage too
What skirt do you wear when riding your bike?? I have only worn a skort on my bike up to now

I know I'm not who you asked, but I'll put in my two cents anyway. I posted a year or two ago on the subject....

I wear a regular 23-24" skirt most of the time, and I ride a (men's) "racing bike" -- the kind with the dropped handlebars. The skirts are a little longer than "over the knee" length, so they conceal what needs to be concealed.

I haven't gone out on group bike rides yet, though, mostly just when I go out around dawn for some exercise.

[straightfairy]

Welcome wichor!

[wichor]

first time we went bikeriding i wore a kilt type of skirt. it's in this picture, i think that was exactly the outfit i wore that day: .

the other we went again, the weather was great. i didn't wear hose underneath and just got in a slightly shorter (somewhat above knees) brown denim-like skirt that was rather slim fitting. was hard to ride a bike in it, because the legs had to be hald more close. especially when we had to stop for traffic and i had to get one leg down on the street to prevent me from tipping over. but it was great.

my girl's a violin teacher and she had one of her pupils here with his mother and she said she had seen her riding last sunday. she didn't mention enything about me wearing a skirt. dunno if she had noticed me, and recognised me as being a man in skirt. my girl's fine with that. doesn't midn now that other people know.

and after all... they will quit sometime, as she soon won't have time for this pupil when the baby arrives she'll have lots of other pupils still in other places, but this one's a loner in our hometown.

[Uncle Al]

Wichor, a belated
from the South Western part of the USA

Uncle Al
Duncanville, TX

[Milfmog]

Hi Wichor,

It's another belated welcome from me too, but, perhaps more importantly, congratulations on the imminent new skirt wearer. If this is your first little one, I'd recommend building up a stockpile of sleep now; it could become a rare luxury soon...

Have fun,


Ian.

[Uncle Al]

I agree with Milfmog 100% We have a new grandson, 2 1/2 weeks
old, and his parents are not getting much sleep. His big brother, 3 years
old, is sleeping with no problem. We went up to their home on Sunday
and babysat both boys while Mom & Dad got out of the house for awhile.
Fun for us, and Fun for the new parents. I hope that your parents are
close to you so they can share in the joy of being GrandParents

Uncle Al
Duncanville, TX

[wichor]

it is our first born indeed. parents are a 2 hour drive, inlaws 1 hour. so not too close. we've still got till december to get some sleep. and i'm taking the whole first month leave.

but i'm looking forward to it, and hope he or she will be nice to us. i'm quite acquainted to getting not too much sleep, so i hope we will be alright.

[Since1982]

Lack of sleep in the first year of babylife for dad and mom becomes the norm. I had 3 years of that most wonderful period of my life and I was mostly sleepless. From 1962 to 1965. After that, when my dad died in 1967, my mom moved in with us and took a lot of the pressure off me. My family life was great as long as it lasted.

Think about looking for a baby backpack. They work really well after the child is over 1 years old. You can take him/her everywhere with you hands free. I had a double pack for my twins which I and my wife took turns using. Of course today they have better quality backpacks than they did in the 60's.

[Inertia]

Welcome, Wichor, and congratulations on your upcoming parenthood! From my own experience, I'd say take your baby with you to as many places as you can -- it gets you a child who's not afraid of people, and who can fall asleep under practically any sort of circumstance. Sleep deprivation for parents is a given; they say it takes five years for a mother to get over the sleep deprivation of having a baby, and fathers are certainly included in the sleepless category, so I'm wishing you a child who learns early on to sleep through the night.

Cheers,

Inertia

[AMM]

... From my own experience, I'd say take your baby with you to as many places as you can -- it gets you a child who's not afraid of people, and who can fall asleep under practically any sort of circumstance.

As they say on misc.kids, YMMV (Your Milage May Vary.)

This advice might be good for 90% of the babies out there, but it would have been terrible advice for my older son. For the first 6-12 months, new situations and sometimes even old ones would get him so overstimulated that he would have to scream himself into total physical exhaustion. We eventually learned to only ever take him to a few familiar places.

My point: it's also important to really, really get to know your baby. If what the baby book says doesn't work, throw out the baby book, keep the baby. (It may be hard to believe at first, but children are a lot more rewarding than child-rearing books.)

Sleep deprivation for parents is a given...I'm wishing you a child who learns early on to sleep through the night.

My kids are 18 and 15, and I still don't get to sleep through the night.

I think what really happens is that you eventually learn that getting 8 hours uninterrupted sleep is a luxury (like being carried in a sedan chair by slaves ) which you can learn to live without.