A Father's Love

I've noticed that in my wife's family, there isn't a lot of baby kissing going on. I've never seen it with any of the kids. Actually, I think that they just don't show a lot of physical affection in general. They aren't the hugging, kissing back-slapping type. Not that they aren't close-knit - they're all kinds of close... It just doesn't come out physically. It's a cultural thing, mostly.

My father-in-law seems to like kids well enough. Apparently, he's more involved with his grand kids than he ever was with his own. Of course, he's retired now, so he doesn;t have a lot to do except a bit of gardening and holding babies. My niece is just a few months older than Cameron - and he's one of the few people that she'll let hold her. Cameron, on the other hand, does pretty well with just about anybody.

Every once in a while you hear about those dads who are intentionally "hands off" with their kids, especially their sons. The kid grows up learning to respect him, but barely get so much as a hand-shake out of him. Some guys think that's healthy - teach your son to be a man through distance and emotional suppression. Right.

Me? I'm the guy who kisses my son about every twenty seconds or so, if he's in the room. That's mostly because I'm afraid he won't want me to when he gets older - I'm getting it all in now. My dad was a kisser, too - but I used to hate it because he always had stubble and I didn't like the way it scratched.

... now, with Cameron, I shave twice a day .....

It's funny - at first I didn't want a boy because I thought I'd be less affectionate with him. Friends told me that it wouldnt matter. They were right.