You’re a daddy!
The first time a man hears these words from his wife, his heart soars and his mind fills with dreams of the future. Suddenly this guy who tended to think that it’s all about him, or all about his job, is struck with some noble ideas about protecting his wife – the Mother of His Child – and providing for this little one in the womb. He has a stake in the future and no sacrifice seems too large.
This is very much how I felt when my wife came to my office unexpectedly one day to present me with a baby rattle. I was clueless. After 18 months of married life trying to have a child, I thought, maybe my wife was losing it. But when she shook the rattle (I can still hear the sound) and said, “You’re a daddy,” I lost it. We hugged. I cried. No man on earth was happier. We still have the baby rattle – along with two growing boys, ages 10 and 6.
When the Feast of the Annunciation was approaching last week, I decided to ask men if they recalled when they first heard their own fatherhood news from their wives and what they thought and felt on the occasion. I sent out word through the Fathers for Good email and Facebook network and have received a fair number of responses – some of them quite moving, all of them deeply heartfelt and personal. If you think that men don’t “share” or have deep feelings about their wives and children, you need to read these comments on the Fathers for Good website. (http://www.fathersforgood.org/ffg/en/big_four/first_heard_dad.html)
