Baby Brain

Well, I'm a father now. What an interesting blend of amazing, awesome and utterly terrifying it is! My wife has been great about letting me sleep in the spare bedroom on weeknights, so I'm not as frazzled as I could be, but I'm still pretty blitzed.

I've heard that being a parent kills brain cells. Our friends with kids have described "baby-brain" to us, but I never really believed them. I believe now, of course. The event that really brought the syndrome home for me happened last week.

Somehow, I remembered that I needed to renew the car insurance, which meant a trip to town. My first trip to town since we brought Iris home, in fact.

I had a lot to do - pick up film, groceries, insurance, books (watching tv while breastfeeding gets old fast, apparently) and a few other things. After stopping at the grocery store, I pulled out of the parking lot and was waiting at the stop sign to turn onto the main street.

I glanced into the rearview mirror and saw Bob Slade, the Nelson FD Deputy Chief, trotting down the road towards my car… in his uniform. Rolling down the window, I blearily said "Hi".

Bob got to the car, smiled and said something like "New dad, huh?"

He knew we were expecting, so I grinned and said, "Yes, a little girl."

He laughed, picked up the package of toilet paper that I'd left on the roof of my car, passed it to me and said, "I could tell." Then he walked off. Bob is probably also a parent.

So I'll ask you to be patient with me in the weeks and months to come. You may have to repeat things, or speak slowly. I have baby-brain, and it's totally worth it.