one good reason to have children

One Good Reason to Have a Child

“Give me one good reason to have a child,” two of my friends recently asked me on separate occasions. Each had been married for about two years and were now thinking about whether or not to start a family. They could come up with many reasons not to have kids: the cost, the declining condition of our planet, the total life upheaval and the loss of personal freedom among others. But they weren’t so sure about reasons for having a child.Read More

6 Things That Shocked Me About New Fatherhood

6 Things that Shocked Me about New Fatherhood

[This is a preview of a guest post I wrote for ESL Marriage]

Before I became a first-time father, I prepared. I took a pre-natal class with my wife, asked other parents what their experience was like, and read numerous blog posts and books about the subject. But even with all that preparation, there were many things about being a new father that surprised and shocked me. No one warned me about these things (or maybe they did and I wasn’t paying attention).
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The Day I Felt Like a Terrible Father

The day I felt like a Terrible Father

This is the story of my worst day as a father, the day I felt like a complete failure of a dad.

It was a Saturday in early July, shortly after we had moved into our new home. As was often the case, Olive and I decided we would split the parenting duties for the day. She would watch Allie in the morning while I unpacked the house. And I would watch Allie in the afternoon while she unpacked the house.

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