I caught this article linked by the fine people of BicoastalBitchin.
Alls I gotta say is that the writer hit the nail right flat on the head. This was my favorite sentence:
When baby makes three, the abrupt lifestyle change spells an end to these spontaneous expeditions.
Age three is the magic number, and it’s a dad thing, almost exclusively. Wives and women are cool checking with the singles, adjusting to the schedule, embarking on the same activities. But for guys, the party begins to end when the baby first comes, as you get used to changing diapers, feeding the baby, putting the baby to sleep, etc. The party completely ends at 3. You’re no longer the same person. Dude, meet yourself.
Sure, I still go out for fight night when Lyoto, BJ, or Anderson is fighting. Sure, I’m still down for chugging a beer at happy hour. But the nature of the outings is different. You’re now a dad, and that comes before everything else. You have very little time for anything else.
The author says at the end of the article that he’s beginning to have more time now that the kids are playing among themselves. He no longer gets the “dagger eyes” when he leaves the house. I’m looking forward to that time. I’ve been a different person for about four years now, and my littlest one is just 14 months, which means that I probably have another 22 months to go. Maybe I can once again re-enter the world of men.
Announcement related to this post:
I have announced that on Sunday I’m stepping down from my post as president of Thymos. It’s been a great five year run, but:
a) Thymos needs to diversify its leadership. I’ve been running it for five years, and that’s a lot. We’ve got at least one excellent leader who has announced his candidacy for president, and so I’m confident that it will be in good hands.
b) As a dad, Byron only has time for one full-time non-paying hobby. In this case, it’s novel-writing, with the occasional blog post going up just to keep it current.
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I also wanted more rice than what could fit inside the wrap....
When I was 2-3 my dad used to take me out with his friends. I guess I was compact and potty trained that I was pretty easy. Not to mention, there were no seatbelt laws, so I could sit on the arm rest of his Chevy pick-up truck with a lap belt. He taught me to hold my breath and he would swim with me holding onto his neck like a cape. One thing it took him a day to figure out was I could not eat a teriyaki chicken bento even if I had a plastick fork and knife. I stared at it and picked at the rice and ume. If my mom saw any of it, she probably would have been mortified.
When we were older dad had a friend from work with a daughter our age. They took us to arcades, fairs, sporting events, even rodeos. Just make sure your friends are child molesters.
I mean they are NOT child moleters.
I mean: make sure your friends are NOT child molesters.