So here is our daughter's room in its mostly finished state. It has been a lot of fun designing and making her furniture in our shop here at the house. The challenge of finding quality children's furniture has led me to think that there may be a market there, but then again how many people are looking for quartersawn oak cribs?

We are doing what we can to keep plastic out of her world and to locate toys and other things that are more durably constructed. It may be a pipe dream. Time will tell. It just seems that everywhere you go, what you find for children is a glut of low quality plastic things from China that appear to be only a tumble or two away from the trash. I don't want to get preachy. I recognize the convenience of such things and the prices are often alluring, but what of quality. Oh - we have so much to learn about being parents! Perhaps a year from now I will look back at the things I've said here before our daughter arrived and wonder what I was thinking, but you have to be hopeful.

So what do I think it will be like to be a father? I could come up with a hundred different answers and never be right. In some ways it would be like me guessing at the ways in which our daughter's being adopted will impact her life. There is no one answer, and until you live it there is very little frame of reference from which to grasp it.

Often when people ask about the places I've been and things I've seen, they will of course ask 'what is it like?' Well the short answer is that it is probably not like any part of their world. That is how I feel about becoming a father. I could read lots of things and listen to people trying their best to relate their ups and downs, but in the end, I won't get it until I experience it, and even then it will only be my interpretation of what it means to be a father.

Most of you won't be surprised to hear that I am not prone to worrying excessively about the things I can't control. I like to think that it is a good thing and not just a euphemism for apathy, but I sometimes wonder if I should be doing more to 'prepare' for parenthood. As it is, I am soon to be the father of a toddler and I have only changed a diaper once in my life and that was 27 years ago. I have no idea what it means to prepare a bottle, and the sleeplessness thing - you parents out there are nodding knowingly, I can sense it - how will I react to that. I must admit it seems pretty scary. I do like sleep!

So much to learn. Thanks for being a part of it along with us. Take Care.