Fatherhood!The woes!The joys...

So the other night we were all heading to our respective homes after a brief evening of unwinding in the CBD. In the car with my boyfriend and I was his good friend . A conversation about babies began. The good friend began narrating to us the woes of being  a father to a nine month old daughter.

"We work in shifts, my wife and  I,when it comes to watching over the baby," he started.
"So tonight, the moment I step into the house, I’m on duty. 

The other day I found the baby sleeping and my wife said to me,  “usitembee kwa nyumba na slippers, you’ll wake the baby". So barefoot it was, on the cold floor as I navigated around the house. Because you see if that little girl woke up, regardless of whether it was  9pm or midnight, she would decide it is time to play. Rest assured you would have to play with her. 

So a few moments after the play session she'll start crying. Reason? She’s hungry. You need to feed her. You have to feed her enough to rid of the hunger but not too much since you don’t want excessive energy in her system. It’s midnight you know! 

A little while after that she’ll start crying again. Reason why? She’s full and tired and sleep isn’t forthcoming. Luckily I have a big sitting room so we walk around in circles until she gets drowsy. I go on to hold her until she closes her eyes. You can’t put her to bed just yet! No! You have to wait until her mouth goes open. That’s when you know she’s out! 

So you place her on her bed, cover her and…TIPTOE away!"

I was in tears after this narration.I haven’t laughed that long in a while.

Kids can be a handful dear aspiring fathers, brace yourselves!

Fathers out there doing a good job at helping mommy’s with the kids I salute you. This is not a small job, you will come to realize. Only when you engage will you realize that kazi kweli ni kulea. (but that is not to contradict my previous blog Kuzaa Ni Kazi

I think about the little man in my life and I thank heavens for this far we have come;at least I’m past the gully creeping phase. He’s really a grown man now.We’re done pottie training, we’re past bottle feeding. We’re having conversations now even and I’m bombarded with questions of  "Hii ni nini? Na ile ni nini? Na hii? Pia hii mum?" 

A place where he is learning.

So here’s to many more years of struggle and growth  and eventually seeing the fruits of it all. 

Here’s to motherhood and fatherhood!