Last night, my partner and I brought home our newborn son for the very first time. It was very exciting. My father-in-law had festooned the house with flags, which is a tradition in his family, and there was a large, colorful poster waiting to greet us in the kitchen when we got in. We had a nice quiet evening, and a lovely dinner, and then I got some sleep while my better half spent the night between feeding the baby and trying to get him to rest, with limited success.
I’m not sure how much blogging I’ll get done in the coming days and weeks – my daily posting has already been interupted, but I’m not especially worried about it. This is definitely not a paerenting blog, and I have no intention of making it one, but since I’ve adopted the gonzo style somewhat, the baby will probably make appearances from time to time.
That said, having a baby is a pretty amazing experience. We were in the hospital for about four days – I was able to return home to sleep, but my partner was there from Sunday night to Thursday afternoon. There were some unexpected twists and turns, but the baby is healthy and beautiful, and we’re all very happy. When I posted the news to the ‘book, I wrote “We’re a happy family!” in part as a Ramones reference, because the baby’s nickname comes, in part, from my favorite Ramone – Joey, who was the kind-hearted romantic of the group. He actually wore rose-colored glasses as part of his costume. If you’ve never seen the “End of the Century” documentary about the seminal punk band, it’s really a worthwhile film. Punk rock is great, and the Ramones were the original punk rockers. I’m not really sure I could call myself a punk – although I have, and I have been in punk bands, and my views on art are deeply influenced by the punk rock ethos, I don’t feel like I’m much of a punk these days.
So far, being a parent is great. I love my child, he is beautiful, and I am excited to watch him grow and participate in his upbringing. I watched a clip of Mr. Rogers accepting a television award the other day, and in his acceptance speech he asks that the audience take ten seconds to think about the people that loved them into being. I think of my role as a parent as loving my child into being. And I’m off to a good start on that front! In the meantime, I’m also looking forward to learning how to balance life such that I can keep blogging and doing all the other stuff I’m doing in my life while loving my special little guy. It’ll be an adventure, I’m sure!
samuel barbour 