Knowing My Limitations: Thanks Dr. O'Brien

Friends of ours recently had their first kid. I visited the three of them at the hospital and it was great. Grace is a beautiful baby, she hardly fussed at all, and of course, there's that new baby smell.

When I left the new family, I called a mutual friend of ours to mention that they were doing well. As I gushed about how much fun it was seeing and holding the kid, we had a conversation that went something like this:

me: It was a really nice visit. Grace is beautiful and her head has that great new baby smell. They are so happy.
friend: Yeah. That 's great.
me: You know what this really makes me think about, don't you?
friend: Sending Dr. O'Brien a thank you note?
me: Actually, more like giving him a great big hug.

For those of you who are not middle-aged men, let me explain that Dr. O'Brien is the man who ensured that neither my friend nor I will be directly involved in the joy of new babyhood ever again. Dr. O'Brien is a good man who does good work.

I love my kids, but as Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry says "A man's got to know his limitations." I am too old to start this again. Also, being able to cover the kids man-to-man is key. If Mrs. Kid and I had to go zone, we'd be dead. Frankly, Girl Kid is a full-time job for at least a person and a half. If we had the bucks to get a nanny, we could go Cover 1, but we don't, so we need to stick with man-to-man. With two little ones, Mrs. Kid and I are slightly outnumbered; if we were to add another kid in there, we'd be crushed.

Mrs. Kid and I are a great match in many ways. She is smart and pretty and nice and a great parent and I am ... currently employed. OK, so maybe that's a list of how we are complementary. One way we are a good match is our agreement that two kids is our limit. We both know our limitations.

Video Nugget: Menomena performing Weird in Juan's Basement


The Day

• Workout: crunches,
  
• Music: Stan Kenton, Menomena, Cloud Cult, Brian Eno, The The