Preemptive Retaliation

The baby is due any minute now. Anna is fit to burst. I have resorted to holding the bump in both hands, getting real close, and demanding that the baby make its way out now. I am practicing my Authoritative Dad Voice – but I think I don’t have the pitch or tone right. The baby is still in there. It is a defiant one. It’ll be here soon.

I keep waiting for the fear to kick in. Mostly I’m just impatient. When will I get to meet the little thing? What’s it going to be like? Will it like the same things as me? Will it play videogames? Anna’s already had a head start on its music taste by playing it her songs whilst driving. To be fair that’ll probably be to its benefit – she has a much better taste in music than I do. And since, if I have anything to do with it, the kid is likely to grow up to be a socially awkward geek, any semblance of cool will be valuable currency to it.

I’ve been playing more Skyrim VR, getting in as much time as possible before responsibility sets in. I don’t think having screens strapped to your face is very conducive to efficient parenting. I’m still enjoying the game. There’s something incredibly satisfying about shooting lightening from my actual hands like I’m the Emperor or something.

Since I passed my driving theory test with flying colours (yay me), I’ve discarded the Highway Code and now am back into fiction reading. The other night I polished off The Lathe of Heaven which was a grand wee book. I’d been wanting to read more Le Guin after hearing about her passing this year, and I loved The Dispossessed and Those Who Walk Away from Omelas, so reading this was a treat. I think I’m overfilled with sci-fi now. I need to take a break from its thought experiments and testing of boundaries – which is a shame, since I impulsively bought five books last week and three of them were sci-fi.

Right now I’m reading Memento Mori by Muriel Sparks and… the jury’s out. It’s charming in its own way for now, and I think that’s what’s going to keep me hooked in to continue. Not my usual fare, but still has potential.

But right now I’m just ticking down the clock. Waiting to meet the baby. Waiting to be a parent.