Just a Sunday Post

I hate to start off a posting with sad news, but this afternoon Tricia's grandma passed away. She was 81.

On Thursday evening, our Parents as Teachers parent educator came by the house for her scheduled visit. PAT is a really good program that is offered through Columbia Public Schools, and is offered in many school districts throughout the country. The parent educator comes by prior to birth, and then about every 6-8 weeks afterwards. When she comes by, she always hands out literature to us about what Libby should be experiencing as she grows older, what milestones she'll hit during the next 6-8 weeks, and how her development should be progressing. Some of these flyers will talk about not smoking around the baby, how you shouldn't let the baby cry too much, attachment issues, etc. One of the ones that we got on Thursday dealt with the important role that fathers play in the development of the child. Begin rant now.

This flyer got me thinking about how many fathers really aren't around, or how many fathers are passive performers in their child's infancy. Maybe I take fatherhood for granted - my dad was always around for me and helping me learn. However, there are many dads who don't take the time to really become an active participant in their child's lives. It's just something I don't get. For Libby, for example, every night before bed I feed her and get her ready for bed. I always tell her good night and give her a kiss before she goes to bed. We take turns changing her, feeding her, holding her...you know, all that stuff. Now, I know that it's probably just my naivete coming through when I expect dad's to really be supportive of their wives and their children and to share the parenting duties, but that's not the case. Soapbox rant over.

MK