Notes from C

Another version of Notes from C...and again, he has great timing. I'm off at the Women's Conference today (well...Friday) with the bakery and I am praying that the contractions don't get any more consistent than they have been for the duration of the day.

Happy Friday, and happy reading everyone! If labour, false or not, progresses throughout the weekend...we will update as necessary!

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I’ve always been quite a hit with the ladies, so the positive response to my initial foray into the The Family Szem blog was not the least bit surprising. Nonetheless, the positive words were welcome, and I appreciate the feedback.

What did, however, surprise me was hearing that my thoughts and words were not what most people were expecting. Truthfully, I thought what I wrote was pretty generic:

- Say you’re excited
- Talk about sporting events to which you want to take your son
- Make a few jokes
- Compliment the woman carrying your child

Those were my notes before writing the blog entry. Seems pretty standard, no? Ok, we all know that I’m not organized enough to actually make notes, but that’s basically what I was thinking before writing it. And it’s not that what I wrote isn’t true (it all definitely is….), but I didn’t expect it to be surprising to anyone.

Regardless, I’m back (by popular demand) for another go. I’ll do my best to provide more regular entries now as we get closer and closer to D-Day (hopefully he comes a bit early so I don’t have to think of that many intelligent things to write about).

What I thought I’d talk about today was my biggest – and most illogical, and completely impractical (and ultimately irrelevant) – FEAR as we are about to have a brand new baby boy.

What if our son is a Leafs fan?
(*dramatic pause*)

Honestly, the thought of this is absolutely devastating to me. It’s not that I “dislike” the Leafs per say, it’s just that I wish everyone in (or associated with) the organization nothing but continued failure and mediocrity in both their personal and professional lives.

As many of you are already aware (or have become aware through reading this blog), I am an extremely devoted Montreal Canadiens fan. The last month or so has been a rather interesting ride. Our house has been filled with emotions, mood swings, groans, aches, pains, yelling, and potentially a soiled couch cushion or two – plus my wife is pregnant!

I have been a Canadiens fan my whole life, which I attribute to the excellent parenting of two lifelong Habs fans (both of whom grew up in La Belle Province). But our familial situation serves as the perfect backdrop for my fears. My brother – initially a Habs fan when he was younger – became a Leafs fan once he was old enough to develop his own allegiances. He actively chose to support the “other” team in hockey’s most storied rivalry. He often likes to remind me of this, and suggests that this very situation could be brewing with my yet-unborn son (especially if he gets a chance to influence the decision. SIDE NOTE: All future gifts from Uncle “B” to Bug will be vetted to ensure “Leafs-free” content).

What if, however, all of my plans to “condition” my son to being a Habs fan eventually backfire? (Apparently they’ve done some studies, and kids like to rebel against their parents.) Truthfully, it won’t be the end of the world. It may even turn into a fun rivalry between us. The actual concern here, and the reason I bring up these points is all about “shared experiences”. I think that the reason I want so badly for son to share my passion for the Canadiens is that it will mean we will share a strong, specific, bond – something that helps to define our relationship through shared emotions and experience. As I prepare for fatherhood, a big part of me wonders how well I will be able to relate to our son, and what kinds of things we will have in common.

I am a sports fanatic. The Canadiens are – easily – the largest personification of this fact, as I basically live and die with every shot, save, penalty, missed call, goal, etc. But the larger point here is that my passion for sports is a big part of defining who I am. If you ask anyone close to me to explain what I am like as a person, I have no doubt that “sports” (in some regard) will have been mentioned within the first 15 seconds of the description.

So what if my son is into music and computers, and doesn’t particularly care for sports? Or he likes science and the environment, and thinks that professional sports are dumb because the carbon footprint of an NHL arena is too big? It obviously doesn’t mean that I’ll love him any less, or want any less success for him. What it does mean, however, is that I won’t share this specific bond with him. That’s hard to envision. I’m not asking for a little clone of myself (there’s simply no way this world is ready for another one of me), but I certainly hope we’ll have some things we can share and both enjoy as he grows up.

At the end of the day, none of this really matters. I’ll hopefully find a way to relate to him regardless of what he’s passionate about. 90% of parenting is showing up (I made that statistic up 10 seconds ago), and I’ll support him in whatever he’s doing.

And hey, if he’s a Leafs fan, he can always go live with his Uncle.

C