A New HCP Delivery
Posted by Adam
Monday October 18, 2010I’m not ready to become a parent.
Seriously.
And it’s not because I haven’t committed to the joy and beauty of having children, or that I haven’t read up enough on all there is to do and plan for, or even the fact that I don’t yet have a significant other (although that could be part of it).
No, it’s more because, at 24 years old, I feel a bit like I’d be parenting a younger brother or sister, rather than a child. Now I know, in the past, having a son or daughter at the age of 20-21 was considered pretty damn cool, the bee’s knees one might say, but I think at this point, I’m playing the role of an enthusiastic observer rather than a willing participant (after all, I am still being parented by my parents in many ways…although they have hinted at the fact that they’d love to be grandparents at some point soon, a task best left to my older brother at this point).
So then, given that, why am I blogging on HCPdelivers? Clearly, this is a pregnancy/childbirth blog, and as you’ve just read, I have no clear path to engaging in either, so to some I may seem like a bit of a fish out of water…but I assure you, I have reasons, and to my mind they seem to make sense:
- 1) After spending the past three years working for a pregnancy/childbirth publisher, the “miracle of life,” to be cliché, interests me greatly. Now, of course, I understand that there are levels of miraculous events, with birth being somewhere towards the top, and things such as dry-heaving your way through morning sickness, or navigating the very serious effects of mastitis may be an order or two less so. But, taken as a whole, the end result really is something to stand in awe of, and while it has the effect of ritual (since it has been going on since the dawn of time), it still deserves an occasional reality check to say “Yes, we did that. And it’s amazing.”
- 2) My second reason feeds quite well into the first, and that is, I think I’ll be a damn good dad, as conceited as that sounds. Growing up with three brothers, a large extended family, and of course, the requisite babysitting duties that come with both, I’ve developed an inner child that refuses to be grounded…I love kids, and enjoy being a kid as well (talk to me again when I have two or three of my own and that may be tempered with a dose of the real-world, but for now, this suits me well).
- 3) And the last reason is perhaps most important – we hear about mom bloggers all the time, but where are all the dad bloggers? Sure, Strollerderby is floating out there (or rolling is perhaps more apt) and doing a damn good job being one of the bastions of male voice on the joys of parenting and fatherhood. But there could, and should be more. As a book publisher, we hear all the time how there aren’t enough resources for dads. Well online is a good place to start.
So we’re changing things up a bit on HCPdelivers and I’m excited to be joining a vibrant community of voices on being a parent (or, almost being a parent). We’ll mix it up with the fun and the funny, stories from others out there in the parenting world, as well as useful information that parents can use. And of course, occasional information from the Harvard Common Press publishing program for all you book lovers out there.
There are no comments yet, be the first!