Just beautiful, michael! I appreciate the beauty of your perspective along with the honesty about being tired, foggy, and irritable.
When my daughter was a newborn she used to stop breast feeding the moment I looked at my phone. This happened even if I did it covertly without needing to shift my body at all. The SECOND my attention was off her, she would unlatch and stare at my like “wtf ma?” Wild!! I think we transmit so much to them, this is so accurate!
Very beautiful read! It's great to have some role models for fatherhood I actually resonate with
The last part about attention reminded me of Bill Plotkin's stages of development. How the earliest stage of life, the East facet of the psyche, is about radiant presence. We may only experience the pure form once but in healthy development it stays accessible to use throughout our lives
Lovely post, very familiar insights, though I had those insights much later into my fatherhood, which is *my* guilt stick I sometimes beat myself over the head with 😉. Then again, I became a dad pretty early, so there are some pluses to that as well. Anyway, our kids are our best teachers! ❤️ PS. Love his name!
This is beautiful. My children are 11 and 14 now but I look back on those days both with awe and slightly aghast they I survived somehow on so little sleep.
If you haven't come across her, I found Magda Gerber really interesting on the subject of attention in babies and young children. There was a blogger called Janet Lansbury who wrote a lot about her approach sometimes known as RIE. I don't know if she is still around. But a lot of the ideas were about attention, both the baby's and parents'. She divided time you give attention to the baby into 'wants something' time and 'wants nothing' time. During the first, when you are feeding, changing your baby etc. you slow down and give it your full attention, and during the latter you give it your attention, but without any agenda, not interrupting it if it is focused on an activity. I read about her when my son was a few months old and was quite influenced by her approach although I certainly didn't follow it exactly, and my older one in particular grew up with an attention span that adults always commented on. He even refused to have a mobile phone until very recently!
Loved this, Michael. Everything about it. The writing, the reflection, the peek into early fatherhood. My son just turned 4 months, so this especially hit home.
❤️🔥❤️🔥
came here to drop a couple ❤️🔥❤️🔥 as well
Just beautiful, michael! I appreciate the beauty of your perspective along with the honesty about being tired, foggy, and irritable.
When my daughter was a newborn she used to stop breast feeding the moment I looked at my phone. This happened even if I did it covertly without needing to shift my body at all. The SECOND my attention was off her, she would unlatch and stare at my like “wtf ma?” Wild!! I think we transmit so much to them, this is so accurate!
so nice to hear from you and congrats to you and cécile!!!
i agree re: transmission of irritation ^_^;;
Very beautiful read! It's great to have some role models for fatherhood I actually resonate with
The last part about attention reminded me of Bill Plotkin's stages of development. How the earliest stage of life, the East facet of the psyche, is about radiant presence. We may only experience the pure form once but in healthy development it stays accessible to use throughout our lives
Lovely post, very familiar insights, though I had those insights much later into my fatherhood, which is *my* guilt stick I sometimes beat myself over the head with 😉. Then again, I became a dad pretty early, so there are some pluses to that as well. Anyway, our kids are our best teachers! ❤️ PS. Love his name!
This is beautiful. My children are 11 and 14 now but I look back on those days both with awe and slightly aghast they I survived somehow on so little sleep.
If you haven't come across her, I found Magda Gerber really interesting on the subject of attention in babies and young children. There was a blogger called Janet Lansbury who wrote a lot about her approach sometimes known as RIE. I don't know if she is still around. But a lot of the ideas were about attention, both the baby's and parents'. She divided time you give attention to the baby into 'wants something' time and 'wants nothing' time. During the first, when you are feeding, changing your baby etc. you slow down and give it your full attention, and during the latter you give it your attention, but without any agenda, not interrupting it if it is focused on an activity. I read about her when my son was a few months old and was quite influenced by her approach although I certainly didn't follow it exactly, and my older one in particular grew up with an attention span that adults always commented on. He even refused to have a mobile phone until very recently!
Loved this, Michael. Everything about it. The writing, the reflection, the peek into early fatherhood. My son just turned 4 months, so this especially hit home.
i remember this so well, and so fondly. thanks for sharing Michael
Beautifully and viscerally put
Our daughter is almost nine months now and I relate to all of this. My experience of time is so much different now
Congratulations on the birth of your dear son, lovely name Etienne.
Enjoy those magical moments, they are truly wonderful.
You will be a very inspiring Father.
Thank you for your very interesting essay.