Category: everyday stuff

on a recent trip to boston, while i was having dinner in one of those trendy hip restaurants in the south end, a friend of mine asked me what it was like to be a father. what follows is my answer as i can best remember.

it’s like nothing else in this life. if it’s the right time it’s the most amazing experience, even when jack is crying. because in that sound of crying there is this little reminder of his birth. that first cry from a newborn is one of the most beautiful sounds in the world.

one of the great things about jack is that he doesn’t cry much! don’t get me wrong, he can scream with the best of them, but when he works himself into a good cry i just say to myself. that’s life and give him a little kiss on the head.

first off, “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” was horrible, but as i stated in the first entry about the drive-in, you don’t have many options. noted for the record here, kelly selected Mr. & Mrs. Smith. i wanted to see Madagascar. the rain didn’t help either. this lead to turning up the radio to hear the movie over the sound of rain and the windshield wipers, which kept waking jack up. who’s dumb idea was this anyway. next time we want to leave the house to see a movie, we’ll drive to blockbuster.

how do you define fun. fun use to be going out to a nice restaurant in the city. you know, the kind of place with soft lighting, beautiful interior, efficient waitstaff, and great food. fun use to be buying a sox ticket the day of the game. fun use to mean walking down to the somerville theater in davis square to catch a movie at a moments notice. sure i miss those things, but they’ve been replaced by a new different kind of fun. just the other night kelly and i went to a movie. yeah a just released movie. we went to see The Pacificer starring Vin Diesel at the Cinderella drive-in theater three miles from the house. okay, it wasn’t our first choice, but you can’t be too picky when you’ve got a three month old and not babysitter. you can probably figure out the plot. regardless we had a great time. so much so when we got home kelly wanted to make sure we checked the schedule for next week. the only difference is next time i’m wearing my PJs.

whenever people meet jack for the first time they always comment on his hair. his crazy punk rock mohawkesque hair. we’re thinking of coloring it green, red, blue or something that really expresses jack’s inner rebellious teen. kelly and i admit to playing with jack’s hair to tease it into a pointy shape. it’s just fun.

this got me thinking about the vain practice of hair styling. jack doesn’t visit the salon okay, he did once because the woman who cuts my hair wanted to meet jack, yet he still maintains a well-coifed ‘do. why do we spend thousands of hours and dollars doing this? maybe if we only bathed twice a week like jack we could achieve the beautiful soft healthy hair that jack possesses.

i also can’t help but notice the similarities between jack’s hair and mine on certain days. granted, these days are often preceded by a timeframe of unknown length without showering on my part. hey, i’m a new dad. cut me some slack. whereas jack’s hair just happens, mine is the result of 2 a.m. feedings and sleeping soundly on my right side when i eventually fall asleep.