Parallelisms
"My way or the highway." This will NOT be the mantra Michelle and I will be incorporating in the upbringing of Embry. Michelle has alot of experience dealing with the squirmy newborn and infant/toddler. She has an idea on how to handle them in certain situations and what might be causing their discomfort at the moment.
I, on the other hand, do not have too much experience with kids. I tend to freak when an infant is handed over to me. Well, freak isn't really the proper description, it's more like, "I've Just Been Handed This Little Kid So I Better Not Drop Him And The Best Thing To Prevent Him From Falling Is To Squeeze Really, REALLY Hard So That He Doesn't Slip From My Grasp." It's my natural reaction.
Peter, the nephew, has first hand experience from when he was a few months old. About a half hour after "Holding" him for the very first time, I went to hold him for the second time. As he was being handed to me, he stuck out both arms and both legs as if to say, "NO...I don't want to go through that again." I'm positive, though, that I will grow comfortable with holding a child as most other newbie fathers do. Michelle is sure that I will come up with an unorthodox way of holding a child, but yet is totally comfortable for the child and me.
Being a newbie father, Michelle asked me the other day if I knew how to wrap a blanket around a baby in a "Baby Burrito" fashion. I took the initiative by getting one of her stuffed dolls and proceeding to wrap it in my version of the "Baby Burrito." At first, she looked on in a disapproving manner. I could see what was going on in her head: "What the heck is he doing?" She then proceeded to show the proper way to fold the blanket. I said that her version wasn't far off from what I had originally done. After a little discussion, Michelle came up with an idea. She said that I could do things on my own at first to discover what works for me. If it's different than the norm, so be it. I'll use some common sense, of course, but if it still doesn't work out for me after several attempts, I'll ask for Michelle's help. She won't force her opinion on me unless it's obvious that the method I'm using will harm little Embry...then she'll intervene immediately and let me know why that particular method won't or shouldn't be used. There won't be an immediate correction though just because she's not used to seeing it being done that way.
This idea helps me tremendously. I won't feel as if whatever I do is being scrutinized to the Nth degree and should make me feel comfortable being with Embry.