…Going to be a Dad

Nothing prepares you to hear those words, much less utter them yourself.  You know those moments that you’ve seen in the movies about time standing still?  It happens.  S**t gets real.  Real good, but real in a way you have never experienced in life before.

OK Cole, pick your jaw up off the floor

Such was my 6:30 am wake up call on October 29th, 2011.  My wife was anxiously trying to get me out of bed to come see something, and like a bear coming out of hibernation I was resisting the waking world.  As I stumbled out of bed, protesting the whole way, she presented me with the above picture – in full stereoscopic 3D of the real world.

BAM!  Ton of bricks, meet Cole.

Standing there in my emotional cocktail of disbelief/elation/befuddlement/awe, I realized that even Starbucks couldn’t brew such a potion of instant-alertness.  In that moment I had two instances of clarity:

• I had never loved my wife Casey more
• I had never felt more unprepared

Now that is a beautiful mommy-to-be

It seemed odd.  I had been waiting for this moment, yet when it came I felt shook to my very core.  What was it?

Dad.

I had not truly seen myself as a Dad.

I sometimes still don’t.  It can be a challenge to intentionally remind myself of the inevitability of my child’s arrival when lost in the day to day minutia of life.  In fact, much could still be the same right now if I would let it.

But I know my child is in there in it’s own little world, just inches from mine.  Soon, little Baby Burn, we shall meet.  Until then I will take great joy in preparing the way.  I can’t wait to be your dad.

How did you react when you found out you were having a baby?  Funny stories?  Insights? Scared you were going to be like you parents?  Share your thoughts in the comments below.