There’s a few things that I hope every man gets to do in their lifetime: ride a roller coaster with their hands up in the air waving them like a mad man, score the game winning point in some sort of sport, plant a seed and watch it grow into a beautiful flower, restore a classic car, dance in the rain with their wife, and most importantly, be a dad.
I’ve done all of those things, but the best thing I’ve ever done was become a dad. Unlike all of the rest of those things, being a father doesn’t have an expiration date or fade into the “Remember when” memory bank. It’s a forever thing; always creating new memories and experiencing new adventures.
During my wife’s entire pregnancy I wondered what it meant to be a dad. How would I do it? Do I have what it takes? How will I protect her? Would I ever let her date? Changing a diaper, wiping someone else’s butt? No way! I have a hard enough time wiping my own. Hahaha. Should I be like my dad, Uncle Phil, Dr. Huxtable or Mr. Feeny?
The coolest thing is that being a father happens instantly. The amount of love that pours into every centimeter of your body the moment you first see your child is absolutely amazing and something that will never truly be understood. There’s no one way to be a great dad! There’s a million paths you can take to get there, just like any road that we travel on will have potholes, traffic, accidents, detours, and road kill (boys that she will date). Lol. But just like any journey, we will have to maneuver around all of these things to get where we want to be, which is being a great dad.
I will be sharing some of my experiences in my journey with my daughter Jett on ChicagoParent.com. She’s amazing.
Cheers to the journey!
Marty.
