Wednesday, April 16, 2014

I'm Going to be a Dad

On Monday, my wife and I were able to announce the very happy news that we have a baby on the way.  For those who are friends with me in real life or on Facebook, you may have heard that I became an uncle last month.  We schemed with my brother to let my new nephew be the one to break the news.  It was great:

"I'm going to be a big cousin"
(Now that is a good looking baby right there...and I am not even going to acknowledge any bias.)

Now for some FAQ's:

1) Boy or a girl?

Too soon to tell and we have decided that we don't want to find out until the baby is born.  Yes, that involves referring to the most pressing topic of discussion as "it" for the foreseeable future, but that's a semantic inconvenience we are willing to endure.

2) When is your baby due?

So...about that...November 1, 2014.  November.  First.  Twenty-fourteen.  Three days before the General Election.

3) Are you crazy?

Honestly, in the real world (i.e., stripped of political considerations) the timing is great.  My parents get to meet two grandkids in the same year and my brother and I will have children close in age.  I also can tell you that whenever this baby gets here, it won't be soon enough for me.

But yes.  The week of November 1 will be a test.

I'm so excited.  I know my wife will be a great Mom and I look forward to being a Dad.  We're bringing this baby into a great place with wonderful people.  Sure, things aren't perfect in the world, but my experience has been that there are millions of people who work every day to make them better.

I am going to try my best not to use the line "for my child" anytime during this campaign.  It is a grating aspect of political speech that rings hollow for me.  Nevertheless, ever since I heard the news, I think about it.  And in complete honesty, I thought about it before, but it was mostly about your kids and the children of my friends.  Isn't our most important duty to be good stewards?  If we can create some lasting good in the world, something that crosses generations, isn't that the highest achievement?

I'm so excited.  And I am excited to be able to share this with all of you.  I've experienced significant growth alongside these pages and I can't imagine what the next frontier will be like.  I am thankful that the way I feel right now will be captured on this little corner of the interwebs.

Have a great Tuesday doing what you love!