A Daddy’s Thoughts on This New Adventure Called Parenthood

When I first learned that I was to become a dad, it wasn’t like exactly what you will see in the old Filipino movies where the father shouts out of joy to the whole neighborhood that he’s about to become a dad. I only said, “Wow!” and probably asked since when and how she found out about it. I couldn’t even exactly remember how it went.

Perhaps, that upcoming huge responsibility didn’t immediately sink or I haven’t really given much thought about getting old someday.

At times, I used to abhor going to the doctor for those regular pregnancy check-ups because of the long waiting time and race to find parking slots. There are these monthly check-ups during the first few months of pregnancy until it becomes more frequent when the due date closes in.

I just thought, at least that health card is put to good use.

Finally, the day came to welcome my firstborn. It’s true! Dad’s get nervous too! My prayers for a safe delivery and that gift of a healthy child were unending.

Thankfully, everything was heard.

I even remember that I had this fear of carrying him because he looked so fragile. If I remember it right, it wasn’t until he was in his 8th month when I had the confidence to carry him around. Sometimes, I used to think and marvel at how my parents raised the four of us, with all those long nights of waking hour after hour just to give a bottle of milk or change diapers.

Lucky for me, I had the help of my mother-in-law.

To add, again the frequent visits to the doctor (pediatrician), which I thought was over. Lucky for our generation, we already have the modern-day diapers, we no longer have to wash and stock up on those pieces of cloths we used to call ‘lampin.’

It actually took a few more years before the realization that I am actually a parent really sunk into me. Now I became even more conscious not only of the food that I feed into his mouth but also of the thoughts that I share with him.

Somehow, I came to realize that what makes kids happy is the amount of time parents spend with them, more than the amount of money spent on any expensive toy. This is why I try to expose him more into outdoor activities during weekends, should I still have the energy after the long week’s travel going to and from work, instead of simply staying at home and handing him a tablet or my cell phone.

After all those sacrifices, if you could call it as such, I would say that it was all worth it. I now have a playmate that I can run around with or run around me, laugh with, watch movies with, scold at, and even discover new things that I wasn’t able to experience when I was a kid.

For me, parenthood is a new adventure and I intend not to miss it!

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