Operation Fatherhood

Six days ago, my baby boy arrived to meet us. I have felt an array of emotions during the week as the events took us from several days in the hospital to now being at home.

I understand why some people feel the sadness, though, right after the birth of a child. The anticipation is such a long time coming and then it bursts like a bubble. Although this is just the beginning, it is the end of the long wait time for him to get here, and it's combined with a lack of sleep going on.

Nevertheless, I am overjoyed at this precious little gift and I'm excited to see the future play out. I find myself wondering a lot lately what kind of person he'll grow up to be, what kind of profession he'll take, and what our relationship will be like. Aside from the lack of routine or normalcy right now - and routine is what rules my world - this will be great. Barker, my five year old terrier mix, and I are exactly alike. We like things to stay the same. Even when I change jobs, I go in with hesitation despite the joy I experience from a move up in my career. I always think about who and what I'm leaving behind. I love my routine. But this will be a small shakeup in routine for a bit until we reestablish it.

I do want to talk more about fatherhood and the place of dads in our society, even though many people are still very focused on making mother the go-to person in the family where a child is concerned. The few short days I've been a dad, it's been very noticable. I hope to take a look at that subject in a new addition of my podcast, which I hope to revive this week! Stay tuned!