I Am A Dad, Now What?: My Own Experience

We are raised as boys to be rough and play in the dirt. We want to be firemen, police officers, doctors, lawyers, or if you are raised in the country you want be a logger, be manly and cut down trees. We want to ride our bikes dangerously, and then when we get a vehicle, we do the same. We are told big boys don't cry and we are taught to be tough! We play outside, well we did in our youth, now it is video games.

We are told to defend our sisters and hurt anyone who would bring them harm, and to cherish our mother as she is the one that takes care of us. We are told that when we get grown it is our job to go to work, get our own place, get married and have kids. We as boys play and we play hard, and then as men we work, and we work hard.

We grow up to play and work, and some still do both, but we were never taught how it would feel to become a dad. We know it is our job to fulfill roles and responsibilities of becoming a man, but I cannot recall one time in my life when I was told how I was supposed to feel when I became a dad. Do you?