Omar thinks: Dad life
A few days ago, I was playing with my eight-month-old on the living room floor. Baby noises slowly turned into loud screams. Lately, he has been making his body really tense and making these grunting noises and I’m like, “Bro.” In this instance, he does it so hard and gets so excited that bam, he falls back on his head!
Parenthood is one giant humanizing experience. I remember soon after my son was born, waking up 2-something in the morning because he was crying. About an hour later, the frustration kicked in. Thank God for my wife (whom I referenced before). This was at a point where our son was still trying to digest his food and I didn’t realize that. That feeling of frustration just fading from my back was wild.
What would I feel if something serious were to happen to him? I don’t know. I know that I won’t like it. I’m Muslim and a pretty religious person and I find a sense of safety in it. An Egyptian scholar, Imam Sha‘rawi, wrote about the relationship with his son. The Imam was popular and when he spoke, thousands stopped and listened. The assumption is that his family would be the same as him but that wasn’t true. In one of this works, he shared his regrets in raising his son. In summary, he was upset because life was about himself and in the process, not about his son. He began to practice what he preached and reached a state of reliance on God when it came to his son. Eventually things smoothed out between them, and his son came out of trouble. He also became a better father.
I hope I never have to experience what the Imam did. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy dad life and be as present as I can with my wife and kid. Articles, podcasting, chaplaincy and whatever else may come up are all important. But if I’m not good with them two, what good am I?
