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Am I The Only One?

Friday, July 30, 2004

Under the Radar

We have a new baby in the house.  The little guy is so tiny and helpless and wondrous, it makes me want to hold him and think of nothing else.  His arrival also means that I am rejoining the community of the sleep deprived.  As I write this, I clutch a cup of warm coffee which is keeping me awake but not alert.

It seems like parents of newborns tend to disappear from society for a few months.  "Where is so-and-so, I haven't seen him at the gym recently... oh, that's right, he has a newborn at home."  We begin to slide under the radar of our friends, clubs, church, and parties.  After a while, we will re-appear here and there, toting the little tyke in a car carrier, and everyone will rave at how good we look when in fact we have pasty skin and circles under our eyes.

As I sip my now-cold coffee I wonder how long it will be before I call up a friend to go for a beer, or attend any kind of meeting outside of work and home.  I probably will not finish this entry before I need to hurry off to change a diaper or find a dropped pacifier.

But it's only for a time, and I'm quite sure that I will fondly look back 18 years from now and wonder where the time went.  So I guess I am happy to be tired, needed, and drained.  The father of a newborn only gets one chance to do it right, and I don't believe in regrets.

Gotta go, baby's crying...

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