I was in the house, walking to the kitchen and I stopped and peeked into our new nursery. Over the weekend, my daughter’s room came together nicely. The crib, dresser, and rug all came in and once everything was in place, a funny thing happened.
It’s been a sprint to get the nursery ready. I take full responsibility for not being aggressive towards getting it done, hence the running around. We got the room painted (FINALLY) and all the furniture and knick-knacks started coming in via the baby registry and her baby shower. I stood in the room and started looking at everything. In that moment, I kinda felt like, “wow…this is where my daughter is going to be sleeping in a few weeks.”
I looked down at the rug and envisioned myself laying on the ground putting my little girl to sleep in her bouncer. I looked in the corner where the recliner is going to be and saw myself reading her a story. I looked at the walls and envisioned photos of our travels decorating her room. I looked at the changing station on the dresser and saw myself, well I honestly saw myself making a mess with all the gadgets, diapers, and creams trying to change her diaper. Over and over, I saw myself in different scenarios with my baby girl in the room. I couldn’t help but smile; I wasn’t scared. In this moment, a serene feeling came over me as if to say, “everything is going to be ok, and more importantly, YOU’RE going to be ok.”
Was it a message from the universe? A message from my daughter? If it was from my daughter, it means she’s got special powers and I’m enrolling her ASAP with the X-Men. To communicate with me from the womb like that, that’s a special talent and it needs to be nurtured.
It goes beyond saying that the nerves are kicking in at the 36-week mark aka THE 9 MONTH MARK! I embraced that moment and let myself feel everything. She’ll be here soon and I’m looking forward to those moments with her.
Oh, and as a side note, regardless of what I may have said about the over abundance of infant merchandise, there’s some really cool stuff out there that we received…but that’s for another post.
How did you react when you first saw your nursery put together?
Fatherhood Confidential 
I like how you highlight the emphasis on the experiences you will share with your daughter. Long after the furniture is broken and or lying in a landfill somewhere, the paint and wallpaper is chipping away and the toys are left discarded the memories of the joy you had will dance in your daughters head. A few years ago I stopped giving gifts and started giving experiences for the little tykes. And I learned a little secret, kids get the experiences, they would rather play with me using rocks and dirt than alone with their “favorite” toys. I wish I had learned the experience thing sooner in parenting 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
The closer she gets to being born, the more excited I get to share experiences with her. As you said, I think those gifts will last longer than any object will. Thanks for reading!
LikeLike
I like the experiences idea. My youngest is 12 now and I am still being daily amazed by her. She likes to hear stories about when she was little and when she was born, like she can see the wonder on my face that I must have had. Even at 12 we enjoy looking at pictures from her childhood. I think one of her favorite memories of mine, that she likes to periodically ask me about is the day she was born and how she slept on my chest the first night and fit from the top of my chest to my belt line. Not to get too wordy, if I can tell you one thing it would be to embrace the plans that get changed into something different. Show her how to own everything she does. If you can put a small 4 liner song together that you can teach her that simply can be a reminder of how special she is and how much she is loved. Cheers fellas
LikeLiked by 1 person