About Fatherhoodville

(Once upon a time...)

I’m marginally motivated, hardly successful, sarcastic, selfish, overly-sensitive, often defensive, more than slightly balding and if cornered can be kind of a prick. If you're a potential employer, please read all that as me being transparent and self-aware. On the other hand, I have a glowing, mushy, gushy profound love and adoration for my little person-in-the-making and trudge my way through being one of his guides. I didn't think I’d live past 30 but here I am, a 41-year-old middle-aged flower in full bloom.

My aim is to shine a light on my experience of fatherhood in hopes that others find solace, sympathy, empathy, psychopathy, relief, some laughs or at the very least someone over whom they can feel superior. We all need that. I’m gonna steer away from advice because that assumes I know something that applies to others or that I know something that applies to me on a day other than the one the thing apparently applied in the first place.

If some or all of what I talk about is obvious or self-evident, congratulations, you know more than I do about parenting. I am not a scientist, psychologist or teacher. I haven't read more than 15% of a parenting book because I'm prideful and I lack the attention for any narrative that doesn’t involve either a bottomless existential vortex or a melodramatic subplot.

The way I see it, kids are not empty vessels waiting to be filled. Kids are potential energy turning kinetic in a slow-motion fashion over time. Kids are also sponges, as exemplified by my boy mumbling “what the fuck” over and over again in the car the other day. 

Lastly, I'm not going to post pictures because that's vain and I choose others ways to be vain. And because he’s (we're) not yet capable of conceptualizing what the internet is and whether he wants his photo all over it. And the government. And perverts. And when I was young my mom had me watch this made-for-TV movie called I KNOW MY FIRST NAME IS STEPHEN and I’m terrified of kidnappings.

Enjoy!

Sidenote: Since this doesn't get much traffic, I also use this site to publish writing samples.