It's only been 6 years plus (give or take) since my son Matthew (Jakjak) was born. There are days that I feel that it's been a lot more than that. And there are days that I feel that I could use some more.
Being a dad is like any normal profession. You have good days and you have bad days. You really can't win them all, it's just the way you handle the situations that get thrown at you.
Personally, my life as a father began during pregnancy. Thankfully, my wife was the one pregnant and not me (fathers, our wives deserve much more credit in the building and assembly process of our children than we give them credit for). So, while moving along this stage, we (myself and the wife) learned as much as we could and have been preparing for our first child months before he decided to come out from mum's tummy. I say this because, for those who remember, Jakjak came out much too early than he was supposed to. From then on, it has been a roller coaster ride.
Sleepless nights and wacky mornings were the order if the first year of daddy-hood. Breastfeeding - err - bottlefeeding in the wee hours of the morning and never ending clean up days, not to mention washing and bathing and poo-cleaning (my all-time favorite). All throughout, it had still been a learning process with changes to Jakjak's formula and soon after changes to his baby food as well. Then there was the hunt for good and cheap disposable diapers (we had a lucky find in a nearby shop). And then there was that time that he fell off the bed ...
The sitting and walking stages followed with as much excitement as watching your puppy learn a new trick. In all honesty, it was even more exciting than that. Those were the days that Jakjak had been finding his grip on the walls and clinging to anyone walking beside him. Until he figured out how to use his baby walker as a car to zoom around the house (well, not without accidentally pinching his fingers on the table's edge) ...
And then there was the talking. "Pickipao" he says. And that's for just about everything he wants to say. But there's also the laughter, the most enjoyable, most relaxing, most contagious laughter that any parent could ever have come across. I mean, I love children's laughter, but there is simply nothing to compare your own child's laughter to ...
And then there's potty training. A milestone in a child's and a parent's lifetime. It's the time that you get to stop changing stinky diapers and start washing stinky buttocks (Jakjak doesn't like the word butt you see). It's true though. Because when the child already knows how to talk, he can actually already tell you what he needs to do. Poo and Pee aren't exactly difficult words. The wonders of nature are truly amazing ...
Suddenly, he's talking and walking like he's the king of the world. And you feel that he has grown up so fast, and yet you know that he still has a lot to learn. Every once in a while, he will do something that is not so childish and you'll think that he's ready for the world. But then, he does something so childish that you feel thankful that you are still young enough to be there to teach him about the world.
And then we find ourselves sitting in the living room together as a family. We just sit there, watch TV, have a bag of chips and chit chat our way through the night. Simple things. And then we remember the things we had gone through together, the tough times, the worrisome times and we shrug our shoulders and say, here we are now. We know there will be more of those times, maybe even tougher, maybe even more worrisome, but we just have to stick through it, as a family, and I figure we'll do just fine. Surely, fatherhood has eaten a chunk of years in my life (more than what the calendar actually says), probably more than dog years, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love this job.
