Daddy Duty

Some guys were born to be dads. Despite all the complaints of men who can’t commit to having children or caring for the ones they already have, there are a select few who have daddyhood in their soul…and not just procreative ability in their, um, jeans. Long before Scarlett arrived, her daddy was learning how to care for her. When we started sitting for a friend’s new baby, Nick didn’t have any small people experience--never changed a diaper, never fixed a bottle, never gave a bath, never even held a really tiny one--but he stepped up admirably. I thought when we agreed to help that “we” actually meant “me,” but I forgot who I was dealing with. Nick took the same teachable, focused approach to childcare that he does to everything he considers important and knew most of what I learned through years of parenting my own kids in no time. I felt comfortable long before I ever imagined I would leaving them to their own devices, knowing that the little guy was in good hands. That experience made Nick realize he had a Scarlett-shaped spot no one else could fill and he spoke of wanting to be a dad many times in the next year or so. And never has any little girl been more loved. In Laura Krauss Melmed’s The Rainbabies, a man and his wife have everything they could ever want but it isn’t enough until their magical, rain-dancing daughter comes along. Sometimes it happens that way.

http://www.amazon.com/Rainbabies-Laura-Krauss-Melmed/dp/0688107559

http://www.laurakraussmelmed.com/