I’m writing this as an exhausted new dad to a four-day-old baby, but I want to stick to my commitment to posting here weekly. My primary motivation is to get my thoughts into writing, which helps me clarify my thinking on topics that have interested me over the week.
This week, however, the only topic on my mind has been the past few days with my newborn.
Three observations on my mind -
I can’t remember the last time my day revolved so completely around a single thing. At every moment, my son is on my mind. Even as I write this, I’m wondering how he’s sleeping and when his next feeding will be. Which brings me to ….
We expected the lack of sleep, but you have to be in it to truly understand how hard it is to wake up at 1 a.m., 3 a.m., and 5 a.m.
Yet, I’ve noticed that any irritation from exhaustion is instantly swept away by the immense contentment I feel just holding him. No one enjoys changing diapers, but the act of cleaning him up and putting him to sleep washes away any annoyance. It’s a beautiful feeling.
This experience brings to mind a concept from Derek Sivers
“So if you’re thinking about baby stuff, anybody, my number one advice is never try to force your kid into an adult schedule. Instead, when you have a kid, it’s just your time to adjust your life to fit a kid’s schedule.”
I’m a routine-oriented person. I like to wake up and go to sleep at a certain time. Obviously, that’s all gone out the window. You quickly come to accept a simple rule: when the baby sleeps, you sleep. You stop looking at the clock or whether it’s daylight. You just take the naps as they come.
I have a feeling I’ll be referring back to this idea from Sivers for years to come.
Signing out with a short post today. If you have any thoughts, please reach out.