Whipped

Something happens when you become a dad. Maybe it doesn't happen to everyone, maybe it's just me. But with the amount of Walmart receipts showing both "I Love Daddy" picture frames and hollow point .45 handgun ammunition, I can't be the only one.

So when you become a dad, you become a wussy. There I said it. It's not that you beg to see pictures of other people's kids, but when you do you say, "Awww, he/she/it's adorable!" ...... And you mean it. I feel wierd in a grocery store. I see some kid doing something cute in the toy isle and I get all gooey. "What a cute little kid! How adorable!" Or worse yet: "What a sweetie!" Ack. I gag at my own Hallmark-i-ness.

Now I'm not crying over any Oscar Meyer Wiener commercials or anything (that just looks wrong when written down-- whatever the context), but I do identify more strongly with dads on television and such. Of course it's simple psychology 101, but that doesn't mean I expected it. I never knew I'd utter: "I love that little cheerleader outfit!" and mean it. I never knew I'd get caught humming "Ring around the Rosie" at work. And mostly, I never knew fatherhood could be this rewarding.