Catholic Husband

Love / Lead / Serve

Hopeful Anticipation

I’m experiencing a noticeable difference between Alison’s first pregnancy and her second: I’m a lot more cool and controlled. With less than two months until the arrival of our daughter, we’re only now starting to make physical preparations. It’s not that we’re disinterested, just that there’s less mystery. Less mystery requires less planning. We have almost everything already, now all that we need are the little essentials.

While the pragmatic side of me is calm and collected, the dad side of me is really excited. We bought her a wardrobe, converted the nursery into the “kids room,” and put some fresh decorations on her side of the room. There are tulip stickers growing out of her crib, and splashes of pink everywhere. It seems like there’s a lot more “fun” stuff for girls, but that’s a different post. We’re daily introducing the concept of a little sister to Benedict and while he won't fully grasp it until she arrives, I think he understands. He helps Alison get up when she needs help standing up, he gives his sister kisses, hugs, and blessings, and he can sort of say her name. He notices the changes in his world and I make sure that I explain why things are changing. He’s going to be a great big brother!

I’d call my feelings hopeful anticipation. With less than 60 days, her imminent arrival is a daily topic of conversation and activity. I even just washed her first sets of clothes and will be soon putting them into her wardrobe. It’s appropriate that her birth come in late Spring because it makes the Easter season that much more real to me. I feel what the Apostles felt. I feel that steady pull of excitement and anticipation. I feel the newness.

While on a walk the other day, I saw another young family playing with their small child on the park. I realized that my peers don’t grasp what it means to be a parent. To many (most?) of them, it’s a burden, a bore, or a limiting factor on their lives. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing is more freeing, more exciting, or opens up more possibilities than a child.

I’m excited for my little girl to arrive, but I’m even more excited to watch another life blossom before my eyes.