Unexpected Blessings

In honor of Father’s Day, Alamo City Moms Blog is bringing you a series of posts written by local dads about topics related to fatherhood. 

Ah, the “joys” of fatherhood…

The sleepless nights, the sound of crying (yours and theirs and Mommy’s), the fear for their fragile little lives, and of course, the diapers. Always the diapers. That’s the work part. It’s really, really hard to remind yourself of all the fun parts as you wipe poop off of everything: the baby, the changing table, you. During those early months, you discover the baby “trifecta.” Your baby can, in fact, manage to poop, pee, and vomit on you at the same time! It’s kinda hard to think about the good things in life when you are covered in baby fluids.

However, you manage a tired smile because deep down inside you know that it won’t last forever. Eventually, those diapers will be gone and there will be a potty at some point in the future. I had done it! I had gone through it all before with my daughter. Trust me, I was done.

But, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men…

I fell in love and married again. I was fortunate enough to have custody of my daughter, who was eight at the time, and we all began our new life together.

And then, a few years later, it happened—my wife, Michelle, was pregnant. It was planned, but still a shock to my mid-40s system because, you know, I thought I was done! I believed babies to be a young man’s game. No worries, it would be another little girl (because I only made those, as past experience had taught me), and I could do this.

But the universe has a sick sense of humor, or vengeance, or whatever.

It was twins…

(What?!)

And boys…

(Wait, what?!)

And just like that, fatherhood—real multi-baby fatherhood—was upon me.

Within these last three years I have, like so many of you, changed thousands of diapers, slept less than I thought humanly possible, wiped away countless tears, and laughed more than I ever have before.

As we “stumble” through fatherhood, there are small moments of clarity. There are small moments that encapsulate our hopes, our dreams, and our joys of being a daddy.

Here is one of my moments:

One of the most beautiful things that I’ve ever experienced as a father happened when my little twin boys were about a year old. Ever since the boys were first conceived, Michelle and I played music for them in the womb. Music has always played a huge role in my life. From pretending to be a DJ as a child, to being an on-air DJ in Louisiana for years, to being a district manager for a record store chain in five states, to putting together a collection of thousands of records and CDs, music has always been part of my escape, therapy, and inspiration in life. My wife shares this, so it was a natural decision to include our deep love of music with our love for our children. We would play jazz, classical, rock, blues, soul, funk, Cajun (from my heritage), and Latin (from my wife’s heritage)—just about everything.

But one album always made them start moving around and kicking. That was a bootleg concert CD of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon called A Dark Night In Atlanta, recorded live in 1973. It is one of my all-time favorites and a wonderful soundscape of beauty and creativity.

Even if a song from that classic record came on the car radio, the babies would start moving happily. Christopher, Patrick, and I were playing in their room one afternoon and I decided to put the CD on for them for the first time since they were born.

The most remarkable thing happened!

When the first heartbeat of the first song hit, they stopped playing completely, put down their toys, and started looking around, just hearing the music. I immediately saw the change in their little demeanors as the song progressed. They were both sitting when it first started. Then, at the same time, they leaned forward and curled into fetal positions, rocking back and forth to the music!

I was so worried that I had broken them!

How would I explain to my wife that I had damaged the children with Pink Floyd?!

Was such a thing possible? And yet this was happening!

In a small panic, I picked up Christopher and he just had the most beautiful, relaxed smile on his face. So I put him back down and he went right back to the same fetal pose. Patrick would sit up and sing along in parts and was very relaxed, but excited always returning to his little curled-up rocking.

It was absolutely beautiful! To see the reactions (and synchronized reactions at that!) of my children so enthralled by this wonderfully powerful music that they remembered from the womb was overwhelming. I knew the love of music was within them and that it would never leave them, just as my love of music has never left me.

I’m not ashamed to say that a tear or two (or a few) came to me.

They stayed in this blissful state for the entire album. When it was over, they both just sat up and continued to play as if it was all just a natural part of their little lives. I couldn’t wait to share what had happened with my wife. She was just as amazed as I was. Another great reason to love her! I’m a little saddened to say, it never happened again.

It was one small moment of pure joy for them that I was lucky enough to be there for.

While they may never remember the details, I will never forget.

When they are old enough to understand, I will tell them about that moment, the music, what they did, and how deeply it affected me as a father of two wonderful little boys. Although that single moment has passed, there is and always will be those small, magical moments that we, as fathers, will find in our children’s lives. Those sights, sounds, and experiences that we share with our children, the ones that make your heart swell with love, will light our path through all of those diapers, tantrums, and tears.

Resized_20160509_223234Chris Theall is 47 years old and a father of three: one daughter who is eighteen years old and twin boys who are three years old. A Cajun from deep south Louisiana who has been living in Texas for the past 20 odd years, Chris is an office dweller in the marketing industry and is the husband to a wonderful wife, who is a adjunct professor. His life is just exciting as it sounds, so he enjoys hobbies like collecting old toys, movie/carnival memorabilia, antique swords, and rare music. Especially music. He and his wife share a collection of over 10,000 LPs, 5,000 45RPMs, 2000 78RPMs and 3000 CDs. Music is one his family’s major loves and it plays a beautiful role their lives.

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