With each passing day I’m getting more and more excited for our daughter to be born. Alycia had her first baby shower this past weekend and it was so much fun coming home and putting away all of the clothes and thinking about the tiny human who would wear them. As excited as I am to have a daughter, though, there’s still a part of me that isn’t as excited.
The part of me that loves going to the movies on opening weekend isn’t as excited about having a baby. Yesterday Marvel released new posters for Captain America: Civil War; these posters show Team Cap and presumably there will be posters later this week showing Team Iron Man. Emblazoned on all of these posters is the movie’s release date: May 6.
There’s a good chance that on May 6 my daughter will be less than two weeks old. How am I going to make it to the theater when I’ve got my baby at home needing to be fed, changed and snuggled? When May 6 rolls around will I even care about seeing Captain America: Civil War or will I be so lost staring at the face of my daughter?
I used to joke with Alycia that I needed to be making money off of The Christian Nerd by the time we had a baby. That way going and seeing nerdy blockbusters would be part of my job, something that I had to do. We are two months away from having our first child and, unless something drastic changes, I won’t be getting paid to write a review of Civil War.
I know it may seem like a silly thing, comparing my daughter to a stupid superhero movie. And I know that being at home with my daughter and taking care of Alycia are far more important than any movie. However, just because I’m having a daughter doesn’t mean every other aspect of my life fades away. I’m adding the role of father to my life, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop being a husband, friend, uncle and nerd.
One of the most inane pieces of advice I’ve gotten about becoming a father is that everything is going to change. While I’ve never had a child before, I’m pretty sure I know that everything in my life is going to change. That obviously includes my movie watching habits, which I’m realizing is going to be a bigger deal for me than I thought it would be. Not that I think Captain America: Civil War is more important than my role as a father and husband, but I am going to miss sitting in a darkened theater watching my favorite characters on the big screen.
If you’re a parent, what was the silliest sacrifice you had to make about which you cared the most?
Movies are up there for me as well but I am a huge LA Lakers fan. I used to pride myself on my streak of # of seasons catching all 82 games (4). I now have two beautiful girls (4 and 1) and I think I’ve seen 8-10 quarters (none in the same game) of NBA games this season total. Not an ounce of regret. BTW…Sunday’s Lakers/Warriors game was amazing 🙂 Keep up the awesome work!
Crap. I forgot about sports. I’ve watched or listened to at least part of every Warriors game this season. Hopefully I can feed and burp my daughter while Curry is nailing threes.
Great post, Scott, but by the same token, there is absolutely nothing wrong with making sure you take some time for self-care. Far better that you leave your wife with the baby for two hours one night to go the movies, than that you miss the movie entirely and feel bad about it. I’m not arguing against your point or saying you should use this “respite care” argument all the time – but, as you say, you’re not going to stop being a nerd! It is possible to be a good father to an infant and still find ways to indulge your hobby, even if less frequently than before.
Thanks for the encouragement, Mike. I’m sure it will just take some time to navigate how I can add the role of father to all the other roles I’ve got.