Baby Proof

Last night, while trying to steer (pardon the pun) a conversation with my wife towards cool new cars on the road, my wife, looking down at our little boy sleeping in her arms, suddenly smiled and said "I can't believe we have a son!". "Nice way of dodging the topic", I teased.

I know she didn't mean to detour from the subject (which inevitably would lead to talk about getting a new ride) but a sudden revelation had overcome her. I knew what she meant because I could definitely relate. When I am at work, everything seems like pre-fatherhood days but when I suddenly remember that I am now a father to baby boy, everything feels different. I feel I have to work harder, prove I am a very important cog in my company's wheel and present myself with utmost dignity. Not that I was ever sloppy but the need to do everything better was overwhelming.

If it sounds like I am complaining, I'm not. In fact, it makes me feel good.

Today, my wife and I were out plant shopping. A fengshui expert earlier said we should have a Money Plant to welcome good fortune into our home. And since we needed all the good fortune we could get, we set out looking for one at a nursery. While there, we scouted for a nice glass vase to put it into and have it perched on one of my ridiculously expensive speakers. My rationale was if it truly brought fortune, I could upgrade my speaker system if the plant ruined it. *pat on back*

Anyway, our conversation from that point on went like this :

Wife : Is it ok to place it on the speakers?

Me : Its ok. We'll just need to put some tabs below the vase to protect the speaker's surface. But what about Captain Crib?

Wife : Hmmm... He's starting to turn on his side and he'll soon be crawling.

Me : He might pull on the speaker wire and the whole vase might come tumbling down.

Wife : (wincing) You're right. No glass vases. Lets get a light plastic one instead.

And so we did.

The discussion came very naturally - like we were seasoned parents. Long story short, I think parenthood has just permanently hit home. And I guess we've just embarked on Step One of baby-proofing our abode.

Our joyride with our son is just about to shift to a higher gear. Time for everyone to "buckle up". *smile*