Thank you Don for guest posting while I’m away at BlogHer! Please give Don and his sweet family a visit when you get a moment here: Adeline’s Daddy
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Dad… Dude… just a vowel sound separates the two, but in some ways they can be a world apart. This weekend this concept jumped in my head while I was at the Indie Art/Craft market that my wife does… she had some interns who (while it wouldn’t be the norm) are young enough to be my kids, but while we were sitting in the tent I called out to my wife… “hey, check out the color of that stroller, that’s pretty sweet and different than I’ve ever seen”… I turned and looked at the interns, they had a blank puzzled look on their face. It then dawned on me that before I found out that I was going to be a Dad, things that get me excited have turned much more toward Baby Land. So, I’ve compiled a list to illustrate how your focus and priorities can change pre baby… and post baby.
Every time I see someone cruising up the street pushing a baby in a stroller, I pause to look and see what they are working with… I feel that I have extensive knowledge of strollers now. I can call out most makes and models by an approaching glance on the street. “Check out that Uppababy vista, it’s like ours… but I think it’s this years model. At this point, I could tell you more brands of strollers than guitars, and my Gibson Firebird hasn’t seen a thousandth of the Daylight that out Uppababy Vista has in the last year.
I got a carrier before Addy was born, and I counted down every day until She was big enough to be carried in it. I actually bought 2, and possibly would have got more… I think it almost bordered on a shoe fetish like pursuit. And now if the opportunity for baby carrying arises, I have a carrier in our diaper bag and if I forgot it there is a backup in the back of our car.
If I had a choice, right now, between going shopping for Addy clothes or clothes for me, I would most surely pick Clothes for Addy. Since the pursuit of the cutest little girly outfits has struck me, I tend to overlook my own need for new gear… until my wife walks me into JCREW and tells me it’s time to stock up.
I still get a lot of books and read a lot, but, I’m more often reading about Brown Bear, Brown Bear than Andy Warhol. When I got to the book store I may leave with a book under one arm, but I have three kids books under the other.
Riding a bike with Addy in a seat behind me will have to wait for some time (if my Wife ever let’s me do it at all), so for now I’m mostly on 4 wheels instead of 2. I feel a little neglectful toward my 70’s single speed Peugeot, but my stroller is pretty hip too.
At the end of the day, with my Wife cuddled against me in our bed was the best feeling in the world and nothing could make me feel more relaxed and fulfilled… until the time came when I could reach my hand a little further and feel my Daughter peacefully sleeping beside her.
I still love all of the things that I have loved and felt passionate about over the years… but I love my Daughter more.
♡ Guest blogger: Don
