Christopher C.

Switched to Team Girl

I still remember the day my wife surprised me with the news. She gave me a New York Giants tumbler that said “World’s Greatest Dad” on the back. I had a stone face and did not move for what felt like hours. We hadn’t planned to be parents, because I was still working part-time and paying for a mortgage. Therefore, having kids, was not in our plans.

As her due date approached, all I thought about was how I was failing as a dad. I didn’t really have a dad growing up, so there was no one to teach me how to be a father. I told all this to a good friend of mine and he said, “Be the kind of dad you’ve always wanted to have.” Those words hit me like a giant lightning bolt and I try to live by them every day.

Before we found out the gender of our baby, I had always wanted a boy, because as the saying goes, “You don’t have to worry about boys as much as you have to worry about girls.” Well, that reaffirmed my excitement when I saw a little girl hugging her dad in Hobby Lobby. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. That same friend also said, “Having a girl first forces you to mature quickly because they are naturally more emotional than boys, so you speak and approach them differently. Whereas, having a boy first means lots of play, roughhousing, and not much emotion.”

So, when my wife told me we were having a girl, I was filled with so much joy. The day she was born, I was smiling from ear to ear, but I also had a stream of tears flowing. When I held her and she looked up at me, all my worries and all my fears melted away. She is now 1 1/2 years old and I know I have a long journey ahead of me. With the best support of dads to pick me up when I’m down and having a supporting family, I have nothing but excitement to see my little family grow.

— Christopher C.

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