The Waves of Life

The first one is always the hardest…that’s why it’s taken me so long to make an entry about raising Adelyn. No, taking care of my first child hasn’t been the hard part (far from easy either), but deciding on what to write. It’s been over a year since Adelyn blessed our lives by arriving on Valentine’s Day 2017, and since then some have suggested I start a blog about my experiences of being a stay at home dad. The idea intrigued me, but I didn’t know where to start. Then I saw this picture from our beach vacation this summer and inspiration struck.

On a daily basis I’m struck by how big Adelyn is getting, not so much physically, but in what she’s able to do. She can use a fork all by herself, though it’s often barren of any food (hey, maybe that’s why she’s so small), identify body parts, and almost walk as fast as I can. It seems like only yesterday that she was dependent on us for everything, now she likes to do it all herself. No truer words were even spoken than, ‘They sure grow up fast,’ except for maybe, ‘We have the meats’ from Arby’s. ‘

Beyond its scenic beauty, for me this picture shows Adelyn stepping into, full of excitement, the big and dangerous world ahead while I’m right behind her for protection. For her the ocean, much like the world in which we live, looks like lots of fun, but it can quickly pull you down. There are both little waves to hurdle and tidal waves with the power to knock you down, all of which must be faced head-on (well, in the ocean you can turn your back, but that’s not the point!). The tide rises quickly though, and it won’t be long until Adelyn’s in deep water (literally). The older she gets the bigger the waves get. There are times I feel like I’m in a hurricane, but then I stop listening to my wife and everything is tranquil. (Just joking) Wait until Adelyn starts pre-school, and all her classmates have i-phones, so she’ll want one. The wave of being socially accepted, is a really big one, which still wipes me out sometimes.

The deeper the ocean gets, the more fish there are swimming around, biting at your heels. Those young boys can be real sharks. With all of her cuteness, Adelyn is going to be the equivalent of fishing with filet mignon as bait and really reel them in. I can see it now, at snack time a boy sits next to her and after drinking of his bottle of Fiji water says, ‘My dad is the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company, what does your dad do?’ Adelyn thinks, while pulling her sippy cup from her mouth, ‘Ummm, he watches a lot of Netflix.’ At least she’ll say it proudly.

Yes, plenty of waves are coming Adelyn’s way and it’s my wish that her excitement will never waver about diving into life (and the ocean) and that Mommy and I will always be able to pull her out when danger comes.