I had an idea of what to expect as a new mommy…but I wasn’t so sure about my husband when it came to being a daddy. Okay, well, I had an idea…I knew he would love our little guy unconditionally. I knew I’d melt when I saw the two of them staring into each others’ eyes. But there have been some surprises along the way.
Case in point, on one of their first outings sans mommy, my husband refused to carry a diaper bag. So, instead he took a plastic grocery store bag and put a diaper and a bottle in it. That’s all. Not even any wipes or a change of clothes. Just a diaper and a bottle. And they were gone, for a couple of hours. Ugh, I cringed when I found out. Okay, maybe I more than cringed. But there was no reasoning with him. I eventually realized he’ll learn the hard way. It’ll be inconvenient for Caleb perhaps… but a lesson learned for daddy. Nowadays, he’s upgraded to carrying the “essentials” in his gym bag. I’m still not sure if he takes wipes.
And then there was the time when I was about to let Caleb take a nap even though it was getting close to bedtime. My husband thought I shouldn’t. I said good point. And so the two of them went to hang out in the “man cave.” Or so I thought. It was time to feed Caleb. I figured he’d worked up an appetite hanging out with his dad. Boy, was I wrong! The two of them were all snuggled together on the couch – sleeping! Yes, it was cute, but I was slightly annoyed because now Caleb’s not going to be sleepy at bedtime and I thought we had agreed to keep him awake. Ugh! This is when it gets really good. So, I wake up my husband and ask, how long have you been sleeping? He responded, “5 minutes.” How long has Caleb been sleeping, I ask. His response, “one minute.” Yeah, you do the math. Clearly, it was longer for both of them because Caleb had a little mark on his forehead. I thought it was from sleeping against daddy. But daddy later confessed. Caleb had fallen asleep in his Exersaucer. Are you kidding me?
It has been months since all of this happened and since then, I’ve learned to mellow out a bit and to choose my battles or I’ll go crazy trying to make dad DWMWD (Do what mommy would do). Ha! Besides, how boring would that be for Caleb to have two parents who are just alike? Don’t get me wrong. My husband’s great with his son. We look back at these moments now and laugh! But he may not find much humor in my writing about our shenanigans. It’s just therapy, honey. Seriously, I adore both of my guys. To see my husband’s face light up when he sees his “little buddy” – priceless. To see my son’s face light up when his dad walks into a room – priceless times two.
Anjanette Flowers is an anchor at WCNC for the noon and 5:30 p.m. newscasts. She is married to hubby, Jason, and Smarty Mom to son, Caleb.
