Print Story Haven't Been Leveraging Much Synergy...
Diary
By atreides (Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 01:08:54 AM EST) (all tags)
...but, truth be told, I don't really think anyone is losing anything from it.  I'm the only one who was really interested so no big deal.


Not that I haven't been doing stuff.  Started back to work on my Thunderhawk Gunship.  Started prepping weapons for it.  Hit up Home Despot to mix me up some paint for it.  Better a little house paint of the right color than use really expensive GW paint.  Also played some games in the last few days.  Played a big Apocalypse game on Thursday.  Really BIG battle...  Most normal games are 1500-200 points.  This was 35K per side.  The Imperium beat those foul and foreign Orks, but only just barely.  Today I played a friend's Grey Knights.  Despite my shitty dice rolling, managed to eke out a decisive draw. 

But that's not what any of you want to hear about.  Welsh Girl is doing well.  She's got another appointment and, if I remember correctly, another ultrasound on Wednesday.  I've started reading about what to expect in the upcoming months.  There's definitely a nesting thing happen because we've moved around our living room and begun moving around our "den".  Other than that, her emotions are still a bit of a roller coaster, better at some times than others. 

As for me, well, I'm working and trying to keep her happy.  Thing is, well, I don't feel anything. I know that we're about to have a child and I am happy about that in an intellectual sense, but I don't feel anything emotionally.  Which is a bit of a problem because for the last couple of weeks, I've been playing the part for Welsh Girl.  I've been trying to be supportive and seem thrilled and all that but I really just see it as a state; we are having a child and this is the way things are.  When we first found out, she wanted to know how I felt and I told her exactly what I'm telling you, that I am happy but not jumping up and down for joy.  She seemed to almost take it as a slap in the face.  How could I not be happy, she seemed to ask.  Well, I haven't been looking forward to this for my entire life and especially focusing on it in the last few months like she has.  Or maybe I just don't feel things like she does.  Hell, maybe I don't feel much at all about anything.  No, I'm not worried I won't love the child.  I'm just not in the same emotional state that she or most people are about children.  That upset her to no end.  So I play the part.  And I better be careful lest it wear me out.

Last night we went to our friends' house for their son's second birthday.  There were munchies and cupcakes and all that kidsy stuff.  Everyone spent some time watching a DVD of the kid doing things and stuff.  Just about everyone was glued to it but me.  I know the kid's out of the ordinary and all that, but what's the point in rehashing everything he does?  For grandparents who can't be there all the time, I understand, but why watch recordings of things your kid has done when you could be doing more thing with them?  I don't think I'm going to be one of those people who feels the need to take pictures of everything or record everything.  At least I hope not.  Welsh Girl better learn to take some pictures if she wants them because I won't be taking them.  I also hope I'm not that guy who throws a birthday party for a one year old.  I know that party is not for the child and if it's not for the child, what's the point?  Why do I need a party once a year to say to my child that I love them?  If I do things all the time to show it, isn't that enough?  I have a lot of habits and inclinations I hope my child doesn't pick up or develop.  However, I hope my dislike of parties isn't one of them.

Enough of all that.  Off to bed, I think.

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Haven't Been Leveraging Much Synergy... | 17 comments (17 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback
Promised synergies don't turn up? by ambrosen (4.00 / 1) #1 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 04:16:46 AM EST
Say it aint so!

I'm not a parent, but I'm pretty sure it's too early to be worrying about how you're reacting to the baby. Emotions without anything much physical to connect them to are always confusing.



Promised synergies don't turn up? by ambrosen (2.00 / 1) #2 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 04:18:07 AM EST
Say it aint so!

I'm not a parent, but I'm pretty sure it's too early to be worrying about how you're reacting to the baby. Emotions without anything much physical to connect them to are always confusing.



Pictures... by Metatone (4.00 / 2) #3 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 04:34:49 AM EST
Dude, If you're ambivalent about parties (as I've tended to be) behind the camera is a good place to be.



Some might say also... by Metatone (2.00 / 0) #4 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 04:35:40 AM EST
it's a less draining way to portray excitement that isn't flowing quite as expected.

[ Parent ]

I don't feel anything by wiredog (4.00 / 1) #5 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 09:24:34 AM EST
As we say in AA "Fake it until you make it" and "Mood follows action". If you pretend to care, soon enough you will.

Earth First!
(We can strip mine the rest later.)



it will come in time by StackyMcRacky (4.00 / 1) #6 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 10:29:31 AM EST
it's hard to really grok what having a child does to you emotionally until the child is actually there.  I felt X about The Dude...and then he showed up, and it's at a level I never thought existed. 

In other words, don't sweat it (and it sounds like you're not anyway).

Re: photos.  Taking a bunch of photos is great!  They change SO quickly, it's fun to go back and look at the photos from last month and see the changes.  I go back and look at photos from when he was new and can't believe how big he is now.  It's just amazing, and seeing the sequence of photos drives the point home.

Also, what's wrong with throwing your son a birthday party when he's 1?!!??!!  ;)  The party is a celebration of the child.  We got pregnant, actually had the baby, and kept him alive for a full year!  I think that's amazing, and I know many people who aren't that lucky.  Just last week, clock's VP got a call that they found her baby in the crib not breathing.  We know exactly how lucky we are.  The party was filled with friends and family, and we had a good time. (Of course, it was one of those situations where there are so many people you don't get to talk to them all, but still it was a good time.)

I can't wait until a year from now when we can totally make fun of you!  :)




Yup by thunderbee (2.00 / 0) #14 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 05:17:13 PM EST
'was going to comment, but you hit it precisely.

I never had an interest in kids before having my own, and was not impressed with the idea that I was going to have kids before they actually got there ("they" 'cause we had twins).

As for pictures, I dread being "shown" pictures (or worse, movies) of other's kids. Pictures are for you, because, indeed, they change so very quickly, it's really nice to be able to go back and remember how they looked. Shoving your pictures down anyone else's throat should be considered torture.

We didn't really have a party for their two first birthdays, just some family and a cake. This year, I think we'll have a whole bunch of kids ;)

YMMV - don't expect anything, go with the flow.

Cheers,
Thunderbee

[ Parent ]

I have a big family by StackyMcRacky (2.00 / 0) #15 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 08:40:53 PM EST
so "some" family means a ton of people, including small children.  adding a few friends with kids to the mix was nothing in comparison.

[ Parent ]

Most people by Merekat (2.00 / 0) #7 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 10:59:03 AM EST
TBH, I don't think any of us know how most people feel. We know the feelings they perform, but some of those are shaped by expectations of how one 'should' feel, not how one does. Those not experiencing massive hormonal changes anyway.



Put it to her this way: by ammoniacal (2.00 / 0) #8 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 01:27:56 PM EST
You didn't spill your first seed and immediately think how great it was that you could now make babies, but that probably was a monthly, if not daily, thought in her mind after her menarche.

Men and women just look at this subject differently, and she's gonna have to suck it up.

This coomenat has be n soidnsord by hurricanbe ice malt liqur


not just that by StackyMcRacky (4.00 / 1) #9 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 02:45:59 PM EST
but women are the ones involved in the baby process at this stage; men just handle the ancillary stuff (in my case, clock kept me alive).

Welsh Girl's body is doing all kinds of crazy things, but absolutely nothing has changed for atreides (physically).


[ Parent ]

PRECISELY by ammoniacal (2.00 / 0) #12 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 03:40:46 PM EST
If only WG were as wise.

This coomenat has be n soidnsord by hurricanbe ice malt liqur
[ Parent ]

she's in the middle of an emotional roller coaster by StackyMcRacky (4.00 / 1) #16 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 08:41:54 PM EST
it's hard to remember what you were saying 2 seconds ago, much less attempting to be wise!

[ Parent ]

Ya what!?! by Merekat (2.00 / 0) #10 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 03:32:52 PM EST
Guess I'm doing this bit wrong too.

[ Parent ]

You're atypical in this regard. by ammoniacal (2.00 / 0) #11 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 03:39:48 PM EST
You should have birthed 1.75 kids by now if you fell in the norm.

I respect your personal choice though, lurve.

This coomenat has be n soidnsord by hurricanbe ice malt liqur
[ Parent ]

Hrm by Merekat (4.00 / 1) #13 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 03:42:45 PM EST
0.75 sounds particularly uncomfortable.

[ Parent ]

It's like an acid trip that goes for decades by georgeha (4.00 / 1) #17 Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 09:47:01 PM EST
right now you're still wondering if the blotter was any good.




Haven't Been Leveraging Much Synergy... | 17 comments (17 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback