Life, As We Know It…

Sorry, no recipe this time, just a little love.

Exactly three weeks ago, life as we know it changed forever. After 37 weeks of pregnancy, my amazing wife gave birth to two perfect little humans.

And I fell immediately in love with my beautiful twins.

As I held my babies for the first time, the melty-heart feeling seemed to coincide with a tectonic shifting of priorities. Everything I’d been stressing over – the lesson plans, college recommendations, preparing meals, getting to the gym, workplace gripes, and petty grievances – all seemed to dissolve into the ether.

I’d been told that I would feel different. In fact, in the weeks working up to the birth, one of my fellow colleagues had simply been repeating “life will never be the same”, literally every time he saw me. Others told me that I wouldn’t care about anything else, while others simply imparted that I would have my work cut out for me.

All of these things have, obviously, turned out to be true. I know, because I experienced them.

In the three weeks of parenthood with which I have been graced, I’ve learned a number of things, not the least of which is that parenthood is difficult. So far, parenthood is a poop-covered, pee-soaked, struggle through sleepless nights, and bleary-eyed days, during which I’ve been inconsistently fueled by scarfed leftovers, lukewarm coffee, and limitless love for these two little creatures.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

We did our preparation. We read the books. We asked the questions. We attended the classes. We assembled the furniture, made a cute nursery, and even pre-stocked the chest-freezer with over two months worth of meals. We’re as prepared as we can be at this point.

When all is said and done, I have a single reflection (notice that it’s NOT unsolicited advice) based on the past three weeks, which I would like to leave you with:

Parenthood – especially early parenthood – is difficult. In other words, someone, somewhere worked really hard to keep you clean, warm and fed in the early part of your life. It’s worth thinking about.