Back over the holidays, I had a few days to disconnect from work to relax and spend some time with my family. Despite the ridiculously cold weather that hit us the weekend of Christmas, it was an enjoyable time off. Like many, I used some of the down time to catch up on television shows that I was behind on and watch predictable Christmas movies on Hallmark, Lifetime, and Freeform.
Some good self-reflection here. We set ourselves up for some of this, don't we, with all of the hoopla surrounding gender reveal parties, the drama of sifting through family names trying to find the perfect fit for our child, and other silly things, like jostling for influence over which teams our children might root for (I feel this deeply as a lifelong Nebraska fan who married into a Penn State family and now lives in Happy Valley). I'm not quite sure what the alternative is to the naming business. We are right to take it seriously and to pass on family names, and it shouldn't be a trifling matter to give that all up. At the same time, our hopes and dreams of our kids shouldn't be rigid or oppressive. Exactly right: "Good dads must also realize that there will be times when we’ll be the ones who’ll need to get taught."
Some good self-reflection here. We set ourselves up for some of this, don't we, with all of the hoopla surrounding gender reveal parties, the drama of sifting through family names trying to find the perfect fit for our child, and other silly things, like jostling for influence over which teams our children might root for (I feel this deeply as a lifelong Nebraska fan who married into a Penn State family and now lives in Happy Valley). I'm not quite sure what the alternative is to the naming business. We are right to take it seriously and to pass on family names, and it shouldn't be a trifling matter to give that all up. At the same time, our hopes and dreams of our kids shouldn't be rigid or oppressive. Exactly right: "Good dads must also realize that there will be times when we’ll be the ones who’ll need to get taught."