"Are You Ready?"

As the due date gets closer and closer (July 26 by mathematical calculations), I find more and more people keep asking us the same inevitable question; "Are you ready?". Although the words of the question stays the same, the context of which it is asked and by whom it is asked makes the world of difference.

The first category of people I call the Dreamers. These are the really giddy people who ask the question  with pure excitment that sound like they are more excited to meet our baby boy than we are. For the most part these are the people who do not have kids, but love babies and secretly think about stealing really cute babies when they see them in the supermarket.  The Dreamers have never actually had babies themselves, but have spent no more than 2 hours with them and think they are nothing more than soft, smiley, sweet smelling balls of love and cuteness. The excitement in the way they ask the question portrays a sense of jealousy in their voice, as they imagine a day when they will be expecting a little one of their own.

The next group of questioners, the Skeptics, ask the same question, but as they ask it the tone in their voice makes it come across more like, "Are you really ready?...I mean....really?" The Skeptics are the people with who just the very thought of being responsible for another life freaks them out.  They can in no way imagine why anyone at the age of 25 would want to have a kid that would subsequently take up all of their time. They quickly put themselves in our shoes and immediately jump right back out of them. They have so many other worries and obligations in their life right now, they briefly consider never doing anything again that would even lead to the chance to reproduce. I still have not figured out if the Skeptics respect us for starting a family or feel sorry for us.

My favorite cluster of questioners are the Realist. I have a standard rule that every Realist is a parent. You can tell they are parents by not only the tone they use to ask the question,  but also their body language as they ask it.  As they cock their head to the side, raise an eyebrow, juggle a kid on one hip and a pack-n-play on the other, a sarcastic smirk comes across their face with a small laugh sneaking out as they ask, "Are you ready?.  My favorite thing about the Realist is that they ask the question while fully knowing the answer. They have enough experience to know that there is no way you can possibly be ready for the hurricane of life that is descending upon your marriage.  Every time a Realist ask me this question, I feel like they are secretly praying for my sanity.

So to answer the question, Yes I am ready. I am ready for the hurricane (stop shaking your heads Realist). When I say I am ready, I mean that I am prepare to be unprepared. I fully accept the fact that no matter how many books I read, advice I get, or how many runs to Babies R Us we partake in, there is no way to ever be prepared. I fully expect to be physically, mentally, and emotionally strained for the rest of my life. This I am all willing to sacrifice for the impending adventure.  I feel like this is best described in the book, Becoming a Dad by Stephen James and David Thomas:


           "Nothing to date has expressly prepared you for parenting...This is a season that God has set aside for you to grow in wisdom and influence. It is your responsibility and opportunity to turn toward the moment with your whole heart, as best you are able. Bring all your fear, joy, vision, doubt, hope dreams, and longings into focus and take the leap" pg 42 (Not APA format, sorry Prof McGinty)

In the beginning...

This July, I will be embarking on one of the most important challenges of my life. I will begin the process of raising a son. My wonderful wife Danielle will be giving birth to our first child, to be named Noah Austin Sheehan.

Whenever I first decided to blog about my fatherhood experience, many blog names crossed my mind (The BlogFather, Father of the Blog, SheehAnimal Instincts). Last week while watching The Jungle Book with our niece, it clicked. In the movie the boy Mowgli is called Man Cub by many of the jungle inhabitants as they fight to protect the boy from the dangers that surrounded him.  I realized that that is exactly what I will be doing with Noah. I will be not only trying to protect him from the dangerous world we live in, but I will also be teaching him the necessary skills to survive and fight for himself.  Whenever Danielle and I first found out we were pregnant, one of the reasons I was excited because this was my chance to create my own perfect super human. Everything I loved doing and learning as a kid I can help my son experience and everything I wished I have learned I will do my best to teach him. To raise a godly, honest, intelligent, tough boy I am sure will be no easy task, but I am up for the challenge ahead of me for the next 18 years. Lord only knows Danielle and I need His help and guidance now more than ever.

I give you, the ManCub Manuscripts

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6