Fatherhood

Hello everyone.  It’s Marcus and today’s blog will share some of my experiences as a first-time father.  

Fatherhood has been one of the most rewarding moments and probably one of my greatest accomplishments.  Raising a child is filled with so many surprising milestones that can easily catch you off guard on a day to day basis.  Milestones include welcoming new life into the world, crawling, walking, talking, and even coloring on walls.  The latter was more of a shock, but Imari and I were able to move on and add it to our memory bank for laughs.  Fatherhood has been a tremendous moment of reflection for me because I am responsible for nurturing our beautiful seed. 

The easy part for me is that my wife is a pro with babies and I finally caught up with my skills.  The hard part is leaving and feeling like I’m not spending a lot of time with my child.  I have questioned myself countless times…How do other parents do it?  I was blessed to be able to take 7 weeks off when my daughter was born.  If I could go back, I would have taken the full 12 weeks I had available.  I was that eager not to miss one moment or event that happened.  Some people say that is how it is with your first child, but I believe otherwise.    Being around my baby girl has inspired me to be at my best, push a little harder every day, and nurture our beautiful seed.  Seeing those beautiful little eyes look up in adoration at you countless times is priceless.  You are a superhero in their eyes that is able to make miracles happen and supply all needs.  There is nothing that can’t be done in those little, bright eyes.

A lot of my reflection happens with the experiences of raising my little girl, but also while working in the field of social work over the last 8 years.  I can joke and say I was a father before I had my own child since I have worked with many kids over the years.  My experience working with children that go without nurturing always raised my empathy.  The development of a child is like watching a miracle as it unravels before your eyes.  Crawling, walking, talking, laughing, loving, and being fearless.  The fearless part is what I’m still getting used to with a toddler getting into any and everything.  Basically what I’m saying is that a child looks to an adult for guidance and it is special being there each step of the way.  They need you to protect them from harm, pick them up when they can’t reach hard places, and comfort them when they are distraught.  Sharing the joy of parenthood with Imari has been one of the top achievements of my life and it is a daily reminder to look joyfully to God as a child looks to their parent.  He is there to protect us from harm, pick us up so we can reach those hard places, and comfort us when we are distraught.

Thank you for reading about my joy of being a father!  Share your experiences as a parent or caregiver.  Does seeing little children being worry-free take you down memory lane and put a smile on your face?  That childlike joy is still there and waiting to be discovered again…