by Weusi

In the past 30 days, what was formerly known as fatherhood and shall be called DADDYDOM henceforth, I have learned and been reminded about a few things … in no particular order … well except for the first being … God is GREAT and because of this, I am very blessed! And now … the rest of the list …

Little girls can direct their stream of pee.

People stay fakin’ the funk … talking about babies look so cute … WHATEVER! You know and I know that a lot of babies kinda look the same the first few weeks! It isn’t that they are cute … it’s that damn near all of ’em kinda look the same and no one wants to call them anything other than cute. We could call them chubby, low-functioning, little pie-faced blobs of new human-ness. Don’t get me wrong … they are cute, but that’s really because we’ve been conditioned to see them that way. But honestly, it’s not a special look.

I don’t see my daughter as a cute little baby to play with and spoil. I see her as the child for whom I am responsible. I have to help mold and prepare her for the world.

Wyntr Abrihet may never know her name because, in addition to being summoned by Wyntr, Wyntr Abrihet or Abrihet, she has a plethora of nicknames! Shelli calls her … Pumpkin, Boobie, booga, booga-booga, Sweet Potato, Chunka Munka, boo-key and other things. I call her: Lil’ Sunshine, Sunshine (But not like the character Sunshine in Boomerang), Chicken Wing (she does this thing with her arms … kinda like that dance Kendrick Lamar does in the video for “i”), Lil’ Mama, Wyn Boogie, Hiccup (she has had them since before she got here), and Stinky Booty. She might be a little confused. I can’t wait until her personality kicks in and she earns a real nickname. Wyntr is one of the FRESHEST names ever! No vowels. Y is only a part-time vowel. It doesn’t count! Who remembers this?!

Freeez – I.O.U.

Sometimes you just have let a baby cry. Don’t let the babies cry … figure out why they are crying. Sleep is a PRICELESS commodity. Women are super humans … if you don’t know why, then you may have subhuman intelligence. Babies are milk-a-holics. Music makes the world go around. It can have a great influence on an individual. When combined with a plethora of other factors, it has the ability to influence various aspects of one’s life. In my case, as someone who DJ’d on college radio and in lounges, it not only shaped who I have become, it also helped me to inspire others. I love that, in addition to listening to A Love Supreme by John Coltrane, Wyntr has jewels like these to chill her when she starts to get a little moody when being changed.

Having a measure of time to mark events and to try to schedule things is good … and needed … BUT … with babies, there are many moments that just happen without regard to time.

New fathers … you may never be the same after that first diaper of that merconium tar stuff! I still can’t comprehend how all that fit inside her. It must expand when it hits the air!

A baby’s immune system can easily be compromised, so you can’t really take them on road trips to DC and NC right away!

If you have a baby and you have a partner, wife, husband, special friend, significant other, etc. … communicate with them! And do it in a manner where you just assume that both parties are sleep deprived, hungry, and borderline insane. Meaning, be conscious about the pace, tone, wording, and non-verbal presentation of information.

Did I already say something about sleep having incredible value in a parent’s life?

goodnight …

SHiNE