Fatherhood

A couple of springs ago I took a class called "Birth and Death". For that class, I wrote what was possibly the best paper I've ever written. I sent out a survey to a bunch of my childless friends. I wrote about the feelings of 25-35 year old males when it comes to issues of kids and fatherhood. Of the people who responded to my survey, at least four are now pregnant or have had kids since the paper was written.

Recently I spent part of a day at an apple orchard with two of the respondents, their wives and my family. These two guys have both been amazing with my kids. They love my kids. They are also my two best friends in the state of Minnesota. Both have pregnant wives.

The trip to the orchard was different. At first I couldn't figure out what it was. They didn't run after my little buddy (as much as they had in the past) or play with my little princess. We didn't even talk that much. Later while I was thinking about the day I realized what had happened. I remembered my feelings from just before when my kids were born. Everything in my life became about when it was going to happen, how our schedule would be changed, and about how everything would now revolve around the kids.

I know A&R are both going to be great dads. I've seen them with my kids and I know how much they're going to love theirs. And I see how they're already shifting into kid mode. Both have already figured out that the world revolves around their pregnant wives and then their kids. I know that neither my paper nor the advice I've given these guys will really make a huge difference in their kids' lives, but I hope I've helped them get ready for their new adventure - at least a little bit.