Make sure she gets sleep and respect!

This thing restarted AGAIN! UGH!

These tips are from The Husband Book: A Guy's Guide To Marriage by Harry Harrison Junior, which I plan to give to my brother for his wedding.

Children

Kids cost a fortune. Know that going in.

If she wants to quit work after the baby is born, don't discourage her. Move into a smaller home, reduce your expenses, and let her be a full-time mom.

Be ready to spring out of bed at all hours of the night - for a very long time.

Limit your business travel immediately after the baby is born.

Learn to do all of the following in the dark: navigate bedrooms, bathrooms, stairways, and hallways; warm a bottle; and calm down a SCREAMING baby. Hey, she knows how.

Accept diaper duty. Without complaining. It doesn't smell any better to her.

Resolve to be a part of this family, the protector of these people, to not go AWOL on them.

If she seems extraordinarily depressed right after the baby is born, call her doctor. It's not you. It's not the baby. It's chemical.

Don't burp the baby in any shirt you want to wear that week.

Realize how utterly exhausting caring for a newborn can be, especially for a mother just out of the hospital.

Make sure she gets sleep.

Make sure your children grow up treating both of you with respect.

Offer to drive the carpool.

Be understanding at the end of the day if she has a lot to talk about. You may be the first adult she's seen in ten hours.

Buy a Volvo.

Remember, children need clothes and shoes and food and toys and all kinds of stuff you never had to buy before you had kids. Don't complain.

Don't expect any help from her in teaching your kids to face adversity. A mother's instinct is to protect them from adversity.

Take the kids out for doughnuts on Saturdays so she can sleep.

Be aware that kids treat their moms and dads differently. That's due to the fact that dads and moms treat their kids differently. And that's good.

Drive the kids to practice. And don't complain about it.

Don't let your kids play one parent against the other. Ever.

Decide together on how you're going to raise your children: bedtime, nutrition, discipline, and so on. Then don't let a two-year-old talk you out of it.

Always be aware of how much she does for the family.

When you move (and with a child, you will move), walk around the new neighborhood. It's a great way to meet the neighbors and be with the family.

Don't argue in front of the kids.

Don't make her the homework queen. Everyone can use your help.

Hug her frequently in front of the kids. This makes everybody in the house feel god, though the kids may say they're grossed out.

Don't ever demean her in front of the children. Ever.

She may have secrets with the kids. It just means they trust her.

Make sure they give their mother gifts and cards on Mother's Day and Christmas and her birthday.

Realize that even the kindest, gentlest, most loving mom tend to get testy if they don't take vacations regularly.

Don't miss the PTA meetings, the "Meet the Teacher" nights, or school conferences.

Remember, you sons are watching how you treat a wife, and your daughters are watching how a wife is to be treated.

Turn the TV off and talk with your family. These are moments that can't be recaptured.

Don't expect her to share your enthusiasm for coaching.

Teach the kids to drive.

Be prepared that as each child leaves home, she may fall apart.

On the other hand, she may have to put you back together.