Fatherhood and lifestyle change

Two weeks ago, I was sitting outside the boardroom with one of my lady colleague waiting for our turn to face the 'daunting' Audit Committee members. We chatted quite awhile given that no one seems to have any 'respect' for the poor external auditors time and were made to wait for nearly an hour. Hmmph...so much Malaysian buisiness etiquette ! Anyway so much for the complaints. My colleague actually had a daughter around Jeremy's age too. hence, we were sort of comparing notes on what's life like after the arrival of the 'Little One'. One of the main observations she made was that 'FATHER's life seems to have little change post baby arrival. This is a complete opposite for the Mummy, given that she has the primary caregiver role. The Father ie her hubby continues watch his TV, plays golf on Saturday mornings and life is as usual for the Daddy!

My immediate response was that 'Gee, sounds like Pinky as she always complained that I still watch my TV, play my computer games and seems like business as usual!'

The TRUTH is well....Pinky has a point.....life goes on as usual....nothing has really changed at least on the surface. However, on reflection, subconsciously that is not really the case ! Here are some of the top 3 pointers (not exhaustive list) :

1. Fitness First became a regular haunt
Now that the family has extended, one is actually motivated to stay healthy. Deep down, you know that someone's happiness and future is very much dependent on your ability to stay healthy!...I need to ensure I can work and thus save for his education.....I want to grow old to see Jeremy get married.....I want to make sure I can impart the right values in life to the little one...and the list goes on and on. Hence, a regular workout to the gym becomes a new way of life !

2. Buying things that I would not have bought

I was so satisfied with my Canon Ixus until I realise I get blurred shots everytime I take Jeremy on the move. So suddenly a DSLR becomes something of an utmost importance.

Before I know it, a Nikon D80 became part of the family !

3. Now u know what your parents have gone through

Never have I imagined what kind of sacrifices our parents made for us. I used to hear my mom lamenting...how tough it was to raise us. and yes...nothing beats the actual experience of raising a child to know the challenges and hence the ability to appreciate our own parents more.

This list is not exhaustive, what i have to say as a 18 mth old daddy, whilst the TV and computer games continue to be the way of life, this last 18 months not only make one feels the need to be more responsible and but has actually widened one's horizon on what actually life means, amongst others. ~