Faloo, take a nice look at the photo above.  Take it all in, the perspective from which I took this shot, the surroundings, everything.  Now tell me, what comes to mind?  If you say my hairy legs, you’re grounded for life.  This is the southern coast of Barbados, the location your mom and I chose for a babymoon.  In other words, this is perhaps the only time you’ll ever be the source of peace, relaxation, and pleasure for the rest of our lives.  I kid I kid, there’s a chance that one day, when you’re 50 and I’m 85, you’ll send me off on an all-expenses paid vacation to some island so that I get out of your hair for a few days.  I’ll take it.

Seriously though this IS our babymoon.  What’s a babymoon?  It’s basically an excuse for people expecting a baby to take a trip and spend money and blame it on an unborn human being because he or she cannot fight back.  Don’t feel bad though, I promise you that we’ll do the same thing if/when your siblings are on their way.

So far the trip has been awesome.  We are staying at the Oceans Two resort and the staff has been incredibly nice.  I would actually recommend this place to anyone looking to travel to the islands for a getaway.  I can already see us coming back here sometime in the future.

Anyway, as I sit here, let me take a moment to tell you how excited we are that you’ll be joining us soon.  We spent a weekend in Atlanta with friends, all of whom have kids, right before coming to Barbados.  While their mornings and days were certainly hectic at times, there were moments when their time with their kids were extremely precious.   Little things like a tired child looking to rest in his or her parents arms or the pure laughter of a happy baby are things that make them smile.  They make me smile too – not just because it’s an adorable moment, but because I know one day I’ll be smiling at the same things when my kids do them.

You’re probably rolling your eyes right now in embarrassment of my sappiness. But let’s put that aside for a moment and be totally honest.  If nothing else, you (meaning all my kids) are my most substantial contribution to this world.   And I’ll have spent much of my lifetime concerned about your wellbeing and your development.  No person can ever truly be successful at something if his heart isn’t into it.  And my heart is into your development – just like it is my job, my marriage, and my relationships.   I’ll always feel a sense of pride in your successes and a sense of introspection in your failures.

So, if you see me smiling at you, know that it’s not because I’m your creepy old dad.  If I seem upset or frustrated with you after you make a stupid mistake, it’s not because I like you less – it’s because I’m invested in you and your life.  I would be equally upset or frustrated with myself if I had done the same thing; it doesn’t mean you need to fear us when you have a problem.  In the meantime, I look forward to watching you grow – physically, mentally, and spiritually.  I’m excited to relax with you in my arms when you’re a baby, teach you to take your first basketball shot or solve your first math problem, and advise you on what we feel are life’s greatest paradoxes (and tell you what paradoxes means when you read this).

Let me end this by saying that these are the thoughts of someone who doesn’t yet have a child.  While I believe them to be true, it’ll be interesting to see how much of this changes after you come along and test my every belief.   I have no doubt that I’ll someday have a blog entry titled, “My Child is a Monster.” For now though, you’ve given me this:



(No I don’t mean the old man in red)