Tomorrow marks one month of being a father. Other than the lack of sleep, I've been doing
quite well with everything. I can change diapers and burp my daughter in no time flat, and she
seems to enjoy laying on me. I seem to be one of her favorite nap time spots, which I don't
mind, except when her diaper springs a leak and I end up wearing some post-processed milk. I
haven't changed all too much from my pre-fatherhood days, but I have been taking more notice in
news stories dealing with children.
The school shootings in Ohio make me wonder what has happened to society in general. Back in
the early nineties when I was in high school, the biggest worry was a kid bringing a knife
to school. I can remember only once incident when the school got locked down, which was due
to a reported person in the area with a shotgun, which turned out to be a hunter. It seems
like public schools are not as safe as they should be, at least in my mind, and it concerns me
that one day my daughter is going to enter one of these places. With the way things change
from year to year, who knows what she might be facing come the time she enters high school.
I read another story about a mother who poured boiling water on her five year old boy,
apparently because she was upset that the boy's father had left her. Even if I wasn't a
father, this still would bug me. Why would anyone take their aggression out on a helpless
child? It just doesn't make sense to harm an innocent bystander in a domestic dispute like
this.
I'm not going to be a paranoid parent by any means, but I do intend on watching out for my
daughter and do my best to protect her from things. The next eighteen years of my life should
be a fun ride for sure.