The home stretch.
As my wife and I pull into the home stretch of this nine month odyssey called "pregnancy", I've been thinking a lot about the type of parent I want to be for my daughter.
(Editor's Note: Brad doesn't feel like a Dad. It's still all a bit surreal.)
I am pretty close with my parents. I went through a phase where I thought they were lame and I wanted nothing to do with them, but as I grew up, I realized they provided me and my brother with the tools to succeed in life - both personally and professionally - and for that, I am extremely grateful. If I can be even a fraction of that to my daughter, I think we'll all be okay.
Of course, there are traits that I don't want to develop. For one, I don't want her to become totally dependent on us. I want her to grow up and have the opportunity to explore the world and herself. I don't want her to fear that leaving the safety of our house will hinder her in any way. One regret I have about growing up is living with my parents until I was 25. I'm not going let her move out on her own when she's 16, but I'm also not going to stop her from going away to college. I hope that our parenting skills will have taught her what's right and wrong and allow her to make choices on her own.
I hope we're able to impress upon her is a sense of freedom. I know some parents frown upon their children's career aspirations, but I was given free reign to do what I want, and not having any pressure put on me allowed me to flourish. Whether she wants to be a brain surgeon, or a yoga instructor, we'll stand behind her.
Finally, I just want her to know that we're there for her. There are going to be times where she thinks that I'm lame, or wants to spend every waking minute with her girlfriends talking about the cute guys in their math class. That's fine. We just want her to know that she can come to us for anything she needs. We will never turn our backs on her.
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I'm off to enjoy what could be the last weekend where my wife and I enjoy an empty house. It won't be that way for long.