A Glimpse of the Future

We may be in the middle of wedding planning, but I caught a glimpse of my future on Saturday when we attended the Jack and Jill baby shower for one of Bethany’s colleagues. I expected to blend into the background of this affair with some mild conversation, but I did not prepare myself for the four children under two who would be present and instead found myself thrust in the middle of my first party where my peers have families. Truthfully, I enjoy being around children so my shock value wore off quickly as I high fived a toddler, played with toys, and mooed like a cow into a plastic cup without missing a beat. Things turned out to a great afternoon and the woman who hosted the event assembled one of the most delicious lineups of food I have ever witnessed.

The lesson for the weekend would be that I am one step closer from all of my parties not beginning after nine at night and having seventy five percent of the people drink beer until two o’clock in the morning. While the thought may be scary to some, I am not ashamed to say I think Bethany and myself look forward to our future lives with a family with much more enthusiasm than we do our wedding day. Over Columbus Day weekend, we had a brief taste of what it would be like to be responsible for a child as Bethany’s brother and sister in law asked us to baby sit their eighteen month old son, Nick, so they could go out to dinner with some friends. Nick behaved like a champ for us, but he’s constantly on the move so you have to watch him as he jumps from toy to toy, wanders into dark closets, and tries to dish out hugs while you’re boiling water on the stove. You end up playing games you never knew existed, shrug it off when he decides to signal the end of dinner by sweeping his ravioli onto his clothes, and did I mention the running? At the end of the night, I gave my first bubble bath and then the three of us settled down for an alphabet book about a surprise party for a spider before putting the little guy to bed. We had a few quiet hours to ourselves, but the cuteness begins again the next morning

I’ve heard coworkers discuss the lack of sleep and work put into having children, but that one single day put it a little more in perspective for me. A baby requires a certain level of dedication and a mindset significantly different than being a single guy with hockey season tickets. Another person depends on you for everything and I can easily see how it can be overwhelming for some people to handle. On the flip side, it’s exciting watching a baby discover and learn from the world around him even if it does require some banging. My best days of spending all of my weekends watching sports and drinking will be behind me in a few years, but I look forward to the fun, excitement, and sleepless nights in store for me and our future children.

Of course this opinion could easily change after I change my 100th diaper.