WYETH

MOTHERS WEEKEND OPINION COLUMN The joys of first-time fatherhood

by Ben Wyeth WYE00001@BYUI.EDU Scroll Staff

If someone decided to turn my life into a movie, it would probably end up looking like a cheap rip-off of Napoleon Dynamite, minus all of the interesting and funny parts; just a simple story about a clumsy kid who leads a happy life of nothing special.

The only ripples in the routine would be a few G-rated adventures like Scout Camp and a first date resembling a cross between Custer’s Last Stand and the Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairies.

But before you think that nothing exciting has ever happened to me, there have been a few splashes of color on the otherwise gray canvas of my life.

The first of any real merit is the meeting and marrying of the most beautiful and amazing woman in the world.

This experience is proof that with a little luck, anything is possible, even for a nerd like me.

I mention this first event not only because of its importance and value, but because without it, this next part (the real focus of the article) would not have been possible.

My wife and I decided to start a family right away. It’s not advice we’d give to everyone, but it’s the decision we felt was right for our family.

On October 23, 2004, at approximately 10:40 p.m., the lives of both my wife and I changed forever when we officially became parents.

While the experience was quite a bit more enjoyable for me than it was for her, we both look back on it with fondness.

Watching my daughter’s birth was at once both wonderfully exhilarating and terribly frightening. After all, that little squirming thing lying in my wife’s arms was a person, an individual!

Somewhere in my brain, the floodgates had been opened and my mind was filled with a raging torrent of questions. Am I ready to be a parent? Can I give her a good life? What if she doesn’t like me?

She would have her own personality, hopes and dreams. She would go to school, be teased by bullies, get a drivers license, get a boyfriend, get married, raise a family.

Would I be able to handle all of this?

The nurse, apparently used to fathers having mental conniption fits, asked if I wanted to hold her. I guess I did something to signify in the affirmative because the next thing I knew, I was cradling this new little person in my arms.

And then it happened. As I looked down into her perfect little face, our eyes met.

I can’t really describe what took place as we looked into each other’s eyes, but all of the questions, all of my doubts and insecurities slowly fell silent and then disappeared.

In their place a new emotion emerged, small at first, and then so overpowering that it brought tears to my eyes.

There simply aren’t words for the feelings of love, trust, awe, reverence and joy I experienced as we spent these first few sweet moments together.

During the late night feedings, the diaper changes and her smiles and giggles, I’ve come to some realizations.

I no longer worry anymore about whether or not I’m ready to face all her life has in store. I know that she and I have been brought together for a purpose, and that we’ll be able handle anything that comes our way, especially with God’s help.