Crying in the middle of the night. The pungent smell of a fresh nappy. A lounge with toys everywhere. Vomit marks on my shoulder. A tired wife. Becoming a Dad has taken some getting used to.<\/p>\n
In October last year, my wife gave birth to our first child (a son, thankfully, because I\u2019m not sure I would have known what to do with a little girl), whom we named Ethan. Whilst there are certainly many challenges that came with being a Dad for the first time, these challenges have been far outweighed by the experience of raising this little life.<\/p>\n
The first month was certainly the most difficult for us. The challenges of adjusting to a new sleeping schedule, figuring out how to look after this tiny person and re-arranging our lives around this new family member kept us on our toes. But shortly after that we settled into the groove of our new life and ever since, have loved getting to know our son. I got to see his first smile and to hear his first laugh. I saw the face he pulled when he first tasted broccoli (and I don\u2019t blame him). I\u2019ve seen him get excited and get frustrated. I\u2019ve seen his good moods and his bad moods. And I\u2019ve heard his first scrambled words, \u201cDada\u201d<\/em>. And in all of this I\u2019ve realised just how influential I am in my son\u2019s life. Right now, he depends on my influence for his basic needs. But soon, he\u2019ll depend on it to learn about becoming a man.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve learnt many things since Ethan was born \u2013 things about him, about parenting, about my wife and about myself. Foremost among these is this \u2013 \u201cmy greatest contribution in life may not be what I do, but who I raise\u201d<\/em>. For that reason, I\u2019m going to be the best Dad that I know how to be to Ethan. I\u2019m going get to know him. I\u2019m going to teach him all I know. I\u2019m going to make memories with him. And I\u2019m going to make sure that he knows how much I love him. And it\u2019s my hope that through this, he\u2019ll one day grow up to be a man of character and of courage.<\/p>\n\n\t\t