Upon our arrival home from the hospital, I could feel the clock on my impending fatherhood ticking down by the second. Now please understand, I wasn't going through the normal crisis of mind that occurs when most men find out they are going to be a father. I wasn't floundering in the sea of negativity that includes such thoughts as "my life is ending", rather I was nearly having panic attacks caused by the "I only have less than a month to become a grown-ass man" mind set.
Such a state of mind could have been caused by several different factors, but I attributed much of it to my post-college lifestyle mirroring my previous college lifestyle. Staying up until 2 A.M. every night and sleeping in until 11 A.M. on non-work days became a pretty addictive habit, as did cursing for the sake of humor, allowing dishes to go unwashed for a week until having guests over made the kitchen a priority, and stuffing any and all clutter into the nearest closet.
Having been raised by parents that tended to keep our home spotless, I knew I had to start making some serious changes in my habits, and fast. In much the same way that the military requires recruits to get rid of their hair, wear specified skivvies, and wake up well before the butt crack of dawn in order to create a fine tuned soldier, I was going to have to do something to force a change in my life. Practically everyday after the day we arrived home from the hospital, I had a new task set aside to complete in order to change my home and lifestyle so that it would be fitting for my child to be raised in.
And by Easter Sunday, March 23rd, after literally spending day and night preparing the way for our little one, my entire family noted that I appeared to be a walking zombie. Apparently three weeks of baby laundry duty, crib building, baby proofing, and early-to-bed & early-to-rise sessions wore into my face like Joan Rivers on botox day.But if I thought I was tired then, you can imagine how tired I would become when the Commander-in-Chief had her hand forced and decided boot camp was over, it was time for war!
...To Be Continued...
