Who’s that cool dad you once admired? Not me. Our next-door neighbor might be a candidate. With a life-style that includes a boat, a Subaru Outback and always on-the-go activities (usually out the door – child in tow – by 8am on weekends), it's the spontaneous attitude that I need to assume. Not the parent that regretfully calculated the eventual scratch required to send our girl to college. Just a few bucks shy at the moment, by the way.
Growing up, there was a really cool dad in our neighborhood. Motocross dirt-bikes in their yard, CB radios in their house and under the dash of their custom van parked in their driveway, and assorted fire arms. Building and shooting off model rockets was supported, even encouraged. He was the little league coach and host of parents' drinking parties. What more could a 13 year old want?
For us, is it yet another new chapter in our lives? Or a whole 'nother something. Our daughter was born five weeks ago. 2010 is a good year to arrive. Besides making the birthday-to-age math easy, the economy likely will have recovered when she's entering the labor market in 2030. We can hope. But, she doesn’t seem so concerned about that now. Meanwhile, there are several feedings and changings to handle tonight. And, this insomniac is developing a knack of finding late-night cable oddities or random catnaps – all while staying poised to handle the next cry for help from this little person.
And it's all worth it when she's purring on your chest.