There just comes a time in every man’s life when he realizes that unless he wants to die alone he will have to compromise. It is never the right time to have a baby and there is always a million “good reasons” why you should wait, but as one of the therapists put it – I counsel a lot of couples who regret not having children and have never met one who regretted having them...

I believe that each country has one guy who was born to be a father. Smelly diapers, sleepless nights and non-stop crying does not phase him. He has always seen himself as a father and the day he saw his baby was by far the best day of his life. If you are married to that one guy – congratulations and keep it yourself.

The rest of us are dealing with the remaining male population. I keep hearing over and over that men just do not fall in love with babies as quickly as women do, that is is somehow “natural” for men to get interested and become involved fathers only once a child gets a little older. I can see why somebody would say that, but I really do not believe that it is “natural” or “genetically preprogramed”. Babies have very basic needs – feed them, change their diapers, love them. You do not require super powers to do that. I just do not think our generation of boys had any good role models.

I personally grew up surrounded by the generation of fathers who never changed a diaper or got up in the middle of the night or fed a baby, the type of fathers who showed up around the teenage years just to beat the shit out of you because suddenly you are acting out and that really upsets your mother. The lucky ones avoided the beating mostly because their fathers were too drunk to come up the stairs. I know it sounds “too good to be true”, but really nothing a few years of therapy could not fix.

Our mothers loved those men. Mostly because they were an “upgrade” from their own fathers. And so the evolution continues. There was never a question if Dennis will change a diaper or get up in the middle of the night to comfort the baby. We never even discussed it. And as far as the beating goes… both of us would chucknorris anyone for even looking wrong at Leila (an overwhelming urge to protect your baby is just another side effect of parenthood – I am a mother! Hear me roar!)

Honestly, I do not even consider single fathers to be ‘heroes’ anymore – women have been doing this for decades, welcome to the club. I am almost a little bit annoyed when our family members and strangers get floored with amazement every time they hear that Dennis changed a diaper, stayed up all night with the baby just so I could sleep or has been cooking for me for the past 6 weeks. Is it nice? Yes. Would I expect any less? Hell no. Dennis has all the qualities of the guy that I want my daughter to marry, but somehow I suspect that she will demand even more from her husband-to-be. The best gift a father can give to his child is to love their mother. Trust me, if Leila ever brings home a deadbeat boyfriend I will know whom to blame.