2 Weeks of Fatherhood

…will make you a tired man.

I’m almost 32 years old, and while I don’t want to suggest that 32 is *old*, I’ve always thought that having your first child after 30 gave you a chance to observe friends and family and (hopefully) learn from what you see. Do you spank? Do you give in when they cause a scene in public? Do they really have to eat their veggies? I’m just at the beginning of this mountainous number of decisions, but it turns out that it’s a whole lot easier to be objective about parenting when it’s not your kid. Don’t get me wrong, I think my friends and my brother are doing great jobs with their children, but every parent (thankfully) does things a little differently – they do it their own way.

Recently, Tricia and I have been trying to figure out how to get some sleep at night as opposed to napping all day whenever Isaac decides to nap. You’ve heard it before from your friends without kids, “Just let them cry!”… Well, it ain’t that easy. I think God has built something into moms and dads that  can sense distress in their children and moves them to action. Otherwise, I could never explain how the tiniest sound from my little boy can wake me straight up out of bed wondering if he’s ok. It’s like I’ve got a microphone hanging in his crib with a direct line to my ear drum. Carrying that analogy a little further, imagine how my ear drum feels when he’s screaming his little lungs out. Now “just let him cry”…

So, here’s where I’m at with this thing. First and foremost, I want Isaac to understand that he can never do anything that will keep me from loving him. If that means that I need to lose a little (or a lot of) sleep to make sure he knows that I am here when he needs me, then so be it. I will deal with the lack of sleep for a few weeks, to make sure he has no doubt about me meeting his needs. However, it’s probably human nature to take advantage of a good situation. So, when Tricia and I feel that it’s time for little Isaac to figure out how to comfort himself at night, we’ll just have to figure out how to comfort each other through those bouts of crying. We’ve made it this far together, I’m sure we can work it out!

All in good time little buddy. Until then, I’ll be up at a whimper…