A New Dad

I'm new at this whole dad thing. I mean, like, less than a week into it. And, as I sit here typing with one hand because the other is clutching to the slumbering behind of my freshly minted daughter, I can't help but feel like I've tapped into a greater conscious, a secret ocean full of whispering waves, a legacy filtered from Adam through us all.

I have a daughter. There's probably nothing more I could add to the wisdom of the literal trillions of men who have raised girls, so I'm not going to attempt it. I want to pass on my thoughts instead because somewhere out there, there's another father who will know someone has had the same emotions flooding through him. To get us off on the right foot, here are my first thoughts as a new dad, when my daughter was just barely 5 hours old.

1) Mothers: you deserve a spa day. You deserve a great meal. You deserve a partner who loves and adores you, who will wake up to wash the dishes just so you can have an extra fifteen minutes of sleep. You deserve to be worshipped.

2) My wife is a champion of life. Every step she walked during this pregnancy was taken to protect our child, to be her voice, and to serve as the best possible caretaker. For those of you who believe the man is the defender of the household, you are sorely mistaken. Mothers: embrace your child as my wife embraced ours and the fruits you bear will be returned upon you tenfold.

3) Fathers: your job is not to sit and read the newspaper in your comfy chair on Sunday mornings. Your job starts the moment you hold hands with the potential mother of your child. Your job us to build her up, to confide in her, to believe she is capable of anything, because, guess what, she is! She can make humans. You can't! There's nothing so close to magic as that! Love her. Cook for her. Pull the car around when it's cold. Do the same for your kid. Be a legend in your child's eyes by living as a legend. Show your son that holding a door open for the next person isn't just kind, it's a recognition that we are all walking through the same doors, and it's okay to show your vulnerability. Show your daughters that there are good men in this world who will take her to the movies and pay for popcorn because the only thing they want is to be near her. That, my fellow fathers, is your job. That, and don't forget to never stop loving the woman who made your children. She is as precious to you as your own life, for you share a destiny, and that destiny will always try to make you proud.

That's it for this post. There will be more to come.