I’ve always considered myself fairly shy, really. There are some things that I just prefer doing alone. Fairly near the top of the ‘to do alone’ list is ‘to shower’ and ‘ to change my underpants’. But even closer to the top of the list is ‘to have a poo’.
Babies are fairly easy to keep out of the bathroom but curious toddlers are less so. I’ve now lost count of the number of times Adlai has pointed at a part of my anatomy and asked ‘What’s that!?’
I try not to get offended by the tone and most questions are fairly straight forward at the right time but ‘having a moment’ is no such time. Apart from the obvious unpleasantness it is just incredibly difficult to focus on the job at hand. It’s just not a time you want to be making eye contact with another human being… Even if it is your son.
I’ve started to embrace the new liberal family environment though. To be honest it’s all been quite empowering. I might even start trying to time bowel movements with my Eldest so we can chat as I sit on the toilet and he sits on his potty. It might be a good opportunity to catch up. I’m not sure I want to still be doing it when he’s 15 but for now I think it’s okay.
So fatherhood has stretched me in many ways so far and I’m sure there are many challenges yet to come. But at least now I can face the future with a whole lot less to hide.
The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the blogger and do not necessarily represent the views of Dad.info.
