Wunderhosen
Well, hello. Been a while, eh? Yeah, sorry. There's been lots of interesting, blog-worthy stuff going on in my life of late. I haven't written anything for a while because A) I haven't had much spare time, due mostly to the aforementioned interesting, blog-worthy stuff, and B) I haven't been able to decide what stuff to write about. As a result, this particular post will almost certainly lack coherence and direction.
The MOST (at first I accidentally typo'd "MOIST") interesting of the the interesting, blog-worthy goings on is the recent birth of my first child. I am now a dad. My wife and I have a beautiful little girl, who was born on November 3. She's absolutely perfect. I could just sit and gaze at her for hours (and I have). Life has been fairly drastically different since her birth, but not at all in any way that will cause me to complain (right now, anyway; I might feel differently during a 3:00 a.m. feeding... but she's definitely worth the lack of sleep). So that's the big news in my life.
As I've written in a previous post, I have a tendency to be late for... well, pretty much everything. Surprisingly, my daughter was born exactly on her due date, which is pretty rare. Perhaps she's already working to overcome her genetic disposition for tardiness. Anyway, as late as I usually am for things, having a newborn has made it that much more difficult to get to wherever I'm supposed to be on time. It's hard enough to get myself somewhere at a given time, and now I'm responsible for getting her there, too! So just to make sure you're aware, if you're expecting me somewhere at a certain time, be prepared for me to be late, and then be prepared for me to be even later. I apologize in advance.
As Christmas approaches, I'm starting to realize that it will become a much more child-focused holiday for my family. Two of my sisters also have children, and my sister-in-law has three children as well. That means that at both Christmases (that is on my side of the family and on my wife's) there is a potential to have present four kids under the age of five. Not long ago - about five years ago, I'd say - there were NO kids under the age of five at either family's Christmas celebration. How times change. We'd all stay up late on Christmas Eve, exchanging gifts and consuming a variety of delicious beers, and have a merry time together. It'll be kind of weird to have the focus shift to the little kids now. Obviously that's as it should be. You know, it will be an adjustment, though.
The kids have also made me realize that our traditional family gatherings at my parents' house are probably numbered. As siblings' families continue to expand, we'll all probably want to establish our own family celebrations, which will eventually turn into our own family traditions (the idea of "establishing new traditions" is pretty self-contradictory, since a tradition, by definition, is not something new; this idea seems to escape one particular member (by law only) of my family), over which our own children can someday fret about abandoning (maybe THAT is the real tradition). I'll be sad when the Christmas comes when we don't visit my parents' house for Christmas Eve, or drive to my in-laws' house on Christmas Day. I'll miss the time with family, but I know I'll cherish the time with my wife and kid(s).
Well, however you and your family celebrate Christmas, I hope that you enjoy it. I hope that the joy of the season and of the Christmas holiday eclipses any drama you might experience with your family. I hope you cherish the time with your loved ones. Merry Christmas!
Matt
The MOST (at first I accidentally typo'd "MOIST") interesting of the the interesting, blog-worthy goings on is the recent birth of my first child. I am now a dad. My wife and I have a beautiful little girl, who was born on November 3. She's absolutely perfect. I could just sit and gaze at her for hours (and I have). Life has been fairly drastically different since her birth, but not at all in any way that will cause me to complain (right now, anyway; I might feel differently during a 3:00 a.m. feeding... but she's definitely worth the lack of sleep). So that's the big news in my life.
As I've written in a previous post, I have a tendency to be late for... well, pretty much everything. Surprisingly, my daughter was born exactly on her due date, which is pretty rare. Perhaps she's already working to overcome her genetic disposition for tardiness. Anyway, as late as I usually am for things, having a newborn has made it that much more difficult to get to wherever I'm supposed to be on time. It's hard enough to get myself somewhere at a given time, and now I'm responsible for getting her there, too! So just to make sure you're aware, if you're expecting me somewhere at a certain time, be prepared for me to be late, and then be prepared for me to be even later. I apologize in advance.
As Christmas approaches, I'm starting to realize that it will become a much more child-focused holiday for my family. Two of my sisters also have children, and my sister-in-law has three children as well. That means that at both Christmases (that is on my side of the family and on my wife's) there is a potential to have present four kids under the age of five. Not long ago - about five years ago, I'd say - there were NO kids under the age of five at either family's Christmas celebration. How times change. We'd all stay up late on Christmas Eve, exchanging gifts and consuming a variety of delicious beers, and have a merry time together. It'll be kind of weird to have the focus shift to the little kids now. Obviously that's as it should be. You know, it will be an adjustment, though.
The kids have also made me realize that our traditional family gatherings at my parents' house are probably numbered. As siblings' families continue to expand, we'll all probably want to establish our own family celebrations, which will eventually turn into our own family traditions (the idea of "establishing new traditions" is pretty self-contradictory, since a tradition, by definition, is not something new; this idea seems to escape one particular member (by law only) of my family), over which our own children can someday fret about abandoning (maybe THAT is the real tradition). I'll be sad when the Christmas comes when we don't visit my parents' house for Christmas Eve, or drive to my in-laws' house on Christmas Day. I'll miss the time with family, but I know I'll cherish the time with my wife and kid(s).
Well, however you and your family celebrate Christmas, I hope that you enjoy it. I hope that the joy of the season and of the Christmas holiday eclipses any drama you might experience with your family. I hope you cherish the time with your loved ones. Merry Christmas!
Matt
posted by Matt at 8:19 AM
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