It’s been less than a month since I first held my daughter in my arms as a tiny ball of life and potential. Even in such a little time the changes in her have been hard to believe. Every now and then I find myself imagining the person she may grow up to be sharing my love of the Tasmanian wilderness and some of my other passions with her. Considering my own love of sport and my wife’s athletic prowess, it is tempting to assume our child will share our love and aptitude for sports. Indeed, I often find myself looking forward to watching her play sport or to when she is old enough to race against me in fun runs and traithlons, but this is faulty thinking. Each time I think like this, I have to deliberately remind myself that my little girl’s destiny is hers to choose. I have no intention of living vicariously through her and holding expectations of the person she will grow into- aside from a person of compassion and integrity- places unnecessary pressure where only love should be. I just hope I don’t forget this.
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Dad thoughtsI haven’t had much chance to write much over the last couple of weeks. This has largely been to do with the birth of my daughter, which has had a profound impact on my life. As a corollary of this, a fair amount of my thoughts and observations may shift to the new topic of parenthood. I’m not planning on stealing from Sonia Kruger’s playbook and use the phrase, “as a parent,’ to make claims with no factual basis, but parenthood is a complex and fascinating area so I will be making a few comments about my experience of it. Archives
October 2020
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