29th April 2010 , Posted by Edmund Tay

Fatherhood & Me

Hi everyone! My name is Edmund and I am a Daddy Blogger. Life is full of surprises and frankly, I never envisioned myself to be a blogger nor a father of 3. I did not even like children when I was young, and I definitely never got married to become a father. In fact, when I made my marriage vows in 2001, parenthood was the furthest thing from my mind!

When I moved from Bachelorhood to Married life, I faced different challenges. Besides getting used to each other, we had to learn to get used to each other’s living habits. Despite us enjoying each other’s company and finding out more about each other every day, it seemed like we needed something “more’! It was like there was a natural hurdle waiting for us to jump over. And, accompanied by the ever-ticking biological clock, it seemed to beckon us to “the other side”.  In 2005, we decided to let nature take its course, and we have never looked back since.

People think that Parents are really uneventful people caught up in their own little worlds, but I think it opened up a whole new adventure for me. From learning how to feed a baby, to understanding a baby’s needs, I would never describe the journey as boring!  In fact, there is always something new to learn, and it is tremendously rewarding, as a mere response from your little protégé would brighten up your day.

Frankly, I also surprised myself as I never thought that I would take to Parenting. I never looked after any younger siblings or cousins as I was growing up, and therefore I decided that I did not have this Paternal instinct within me. However, once you become a Parent, a natural instinct just overcomes you. It is like having your own Nintendo “Game and Watch” (You can tell which era I am from). When you get one, you work really hard at it! You bring it everywhere with you. Your hands are always working feverishly at the buttons…hoping that you can master it!  This sense of ownership seems to come over every guy when you become a father, and you just want to give and do your best for your child!  My proudest moment was when I held my baby girl in my hands! I remember the gynecologist thrusting the baby into my hands, and when he said “Hold your daughter!” I shot back, wide-eye, and exclaimed “How!”.

My advice to you is that eventually you will get the hang of it!

Being a father opened up a whole new adventure for me, and Parenting is that journey of self-discovery with numerous twists and turns. Not only was I finding out more about myself, but I was also discovering things about my daughter at the same time. It opened up new doors and blogging became a natural step for me to document my adventures. ED Unloaded was birthed forth in August 2007, and it is basically ED unloading himself onto a 14’ inch screen and recording his little anecdotes and lessons that life seems to bring. I hope that you will come back and enjoy this journey together with me.

If you are deciding to be a father, realize this: Being a father, starts with a decision and You are ready, when you decide to be one!