Papasense

I am a father to two little girls, A. who is four years old, and H. our two-year old. Our? There is also my unbelievably patient wife r., the one who balances me, as I try to do the same for her. I was a Special Education Teacher in Madison, WI for nine years. My wife’s job relocated us to Madison, Al, and with that move came the opportunity for me to stay at home with our children. As much as my wife and I love one another, we are both “fiery” and have, at times, tempers to match. We are strong-willed and stubborn. Our kids, as awesome, beautiful and cool as they are, well, they are kids. They test those parts of you that are hard to willingly test yourself. I rarely thought to myself before kids “That’s it, I got it, I’m going to stand next to a screaming child for 3 hours after getting 30 minutes of sleep and having 2 different people puke on me, then I will know what love is.” I also wouldn’t have known the feelings that come from watching children grow and experience the world.

Yes, we can find these feelings and emotions elsewhere. Having kids is not the only way to become complete or feel the most intense of feelings, but it sure forces you to learn in ways you never imagined, and sacrifice in ways that you couldn’t dream up. There are people who say “they’re kids, we have been doing this since the beginning of time”, yes, true and you may notice in my writing that I volley between the overly romantic and the super jaded.