On Friday, September 29 at 1:04pm, I earned the title of "dad" for the first time as my daughter was born. She's eating well and sleeping well, and her mother and I are head-over-heels swooning over her.
My work was kind enough to give me two weeks of paternity leave, and that's been so helpful because my wife delivered via C-section and frankly her recovery needs have been almost more demanding than the baby's. I'm doing most of the movement in the house while my wife recovers in bed, so that means I'm the primary diaper changer, swaddler, soother, errand runner, and gopher for both girls. It's a joy to serve them in this way, especially because my wife and I believe strongly in sharing equally the duties of parenting.
With that said, as you can imagine, the action has been non-stop and I've felt pretty cooped up during this first week with a newborn. That means it's been hard enough to find time to shave and shower, let alone kick back and enjoy a pipe. So it's been a while.
Earlier today, the baby was had just gone down for a milk-drunk nap and my wife was relaxed and not in need of any assistance. She encourage me to take a break. So I grabbed a pipe with a smaller bowl to be efficient with time, my BriarWorks prince. Wanting something extra fragrant to bring me back into the fold, I filled it with Tashkent from LJ Peretti. I went outside and smoked for half an hour or so. The breeze felt fresh on my skin and the smoke tasted nothing short of sublime.
I came inside and cleaned myself off more thoroughly than usual so as not to pass any fumes to the newborn: washing my hands all the way up to my elbows, cleaning my face, and changing my clothes from top to bottom. Just as I finished I heard a cry; it was diaper changing time again. And now that I was recharged from a little solo time, I was so happy to report for duty.
My work was kind enough to give me two weeks of paternity leave, and that's been so helpful because my wife delivered via C-section and frankly her recovery needs have been almost more demanding than the baby's. I'm doing most of the movement in the house while my wife recovers in bed, so that means I'm the primary diaper changer, swaddler, soother, errand runner, and gopher for both girls. It's a joy to serve them in this way, especially because my wife and I believe strongly in sharing equally the duties of parenting.
With that said, as you can imagine, the action has been non-stop and I've felt pretty cooped up during this first week with a newborn. That means it's been hard enough to find time to shave and shower, let alone kick back and enjoy a pipe. So it's been a while.
Earlier today, the baby was had just gone down for a milk-drunk nap and my wife was relaxed and not in need of any assistance. She encourage me to take a break. So I grabbed a pipe with a smaller bowl to be efficient with time, my BriarWorks prince. Wanting something extra fragrant to bring me back into the fold, I filled it with Tashkent from LJ Peretti. I went outside and smoked for half an hour or so. The breeze felt fresh on my skin and the smoke tasted nothing short of sublime.
I came inside and cleaned myself off more thoroughly than usual so as not to pass any fumes to the newborn: washing my hands all the way up to my elbows, cleaning my face, and changing my clothes from top to bottom. Just as I finished I heard a cry; it was diaper changing time again. And now that I was recharged from a little solo time, I was so happy to report for duty.
