Can't you see I'm a PARENT!

The trials of being a new dad aren't really about how much sleep you don't get or how to make sure you connect with your new child as soon as possible of fear of being just that man who brings food and water. They are about how you resolve in your head the new era of conservatism your life is now faced with. Having being part of the birth of my daughter in the modern "new age dad" way by attending special birth group yoga classes that teach you how to be the fit ball when there isn't one, to stomping the house down during her birth, I am now looking to all the issues and aspects I need to address with this fantastic change.

Even walking down the street pushing a pram makes me a nervous and an angry breeder. I start to yell like the neighbourhood dog at cars or motorcycles with loud exhausts as they go by. "Slow down Mate!" is also a common refrain as the old lady in the motorised scooter rolls past me on the footpath at 5kms an hour. "Can't you see I'm a PARENT!"! I yell, as if this gives me the right be absurdly obnoxious and arrogant towards the world.  Talking to friends who have just had children as well and I can tell I am not alone in this mindset. They speak of buying a 4WD for their one child family after spending years talking about how much they care about the environment or now, how the world seems so unsafe when they take a trip to the local supermarket. 

It stems from an obsession with making sure there is little change in your own life and objecting ferociously to it when it is presented. That everything is a safe as possible and that self protection is suddenly paramount. Long term ideologies seem silly and pointless like the carbon tax or a slow down on the mining of resources to preserve the country’s wealth when coupled with the need to have a safe job and a family life without some postulating do-gooder trying to ruin it all.  This attitude over rides all common sense even when you want to make sure this new life you have created is as humble and worldly as possible. You want your child to see through your protectionist behaviour by embracing danger and the pitfalls of life. There is this desire for them to have a healthy appreciation of the world around them but not fear it. 

I hope I can see through my desire for a padded walled world and stop myself from yelling "Watch Out - You'll fall!" as my daughter stands up for the first time. I want her to fall, I want to graze her knee, I want her to fall off her bike, I want her to feel the sting of a bee, I want her to find out that not everyone in this world means what they say. The first time I see my daughter pick herself up after a fall, dust herself off and start moving forward again is the day I know I haven't let her get engulfed by my irrational need to protect. It will mean, while I will forever watch over her, I know she will be always able to support herself.