The Expectant Father

As I was reading The Expectant Father at the kitchen table, I started to drift off into my thoughts. My life is going to change greatly in a few months and a big reality was finally beginning to sink into my brain...

I am going to be a father.

I have always enjoyed playing with little children because I am still a kid at heart. I would always dream of having a child and doing all of the things Dads do. I want to take the kid to the park, help with homework, and goof around (notice how I skipped the whole baby poop thing...). Now that I know all of those dreams are not far away, I am taken aback at just how powerful it all is. I think back to the time when I was a little kid. My dad was king of my world and I looked up to him more than any person. It wasn't because he did a certain thing or gave me gifts. It was simply because he was my dad and showed me that he cared for me. That is the greatest dynamic in the father/child relationship.

For the rest of my life, I will be identified by this relationship with my upcoming child and that will define me in a way that is much more than any job or activity. There will always be this person who looks like me (hopefully only a little because Mom-to-be is much hotter than me) will need me in some way and look to me for guidance. I know that is what I think of when I think of my father. He has always done that for me and I want to do that for my children.