Since the birth of our 3rd daughter after a 14 year hiatus in daughter-making, the question my wife and I get most frequently is probably "Are you crazy???!!?!?!" (The second most common question is "You're crazy, right?") (And, as an aside, I will add that last week I got the following question from two different people: "You have a 20 year-old? How is that even possible?")
Four-and-a-half years after the fact, I can tell you now that no, we were not crazy. And to prove it, I now offer you the...
IN-RETROSPECT, TEN REASONS IT WAS BRILLIANT TO START ALL OVER AGAIN WITH A THIRD CHILD.
10. It's really nice to meet new people my age at my daughter's school when dropping off or picking up the little ones (I mean the grandparents, of course).
9. It deeply saddens me to see the empty houses of the people my age who no longer have children at home (the houses are empty, of course, because those people are off in Europe, or on Cruises, or at Mardi Gras, or spending the weekend in New York, or sipping martinis out back in their Jacuzzi, etc. etc.)
8. Having the little one at home is like having my own personal sunbeam that lights up my life every day. Those words are from my own Grade 1 report card, but they still resonate all these years later. Thanks Mrs. McLeod!
7. On Halloween, I'm not the creepy old guy who goes over the top decorating his house every year for some creepy reason; I'm the cool Dad who goes the extra mile to bring joy to his little daughter.
6. It's nice to have someone in my life again who believes I'm all-knowing, all-seeing, tall, strong, and just generally perfect in every way. I'm going to really enjoy the last few months of that.
5. Somehow, in my first pass at parenthood, I missed "I Lost My Bear" by Jules Feiffer. Best. Book. Ever.
4. If I didn't have a young one again, I might never have seen all of the amazing sequels to the Disney Classics. Would my life have been complete without the opportunity to cuddle up with a four-year-old and watch Bambi II, Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure, and 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure? (By the way, we have not watched any of these and don't plan to. That's why I italicized "the opportunity").
3. Nothing in the world is better than the 15 minutes at bedtime spent reading story books and singing lullabies. Now I don't have to do it alone any more.
2. A walk at dusk can be a) old people exercising in the only way they still can, or b) a Dad and a daughter out on a Hundred Acre Woods adventure. I much prefer the latter.
1. When we have a fourth child, he will have three great big sisters just like his Dad.
