FATHERHOOD
My avalanche of excuses kept coming until few
days ago when my mother came to visit; I learnt to change diaper the hard way. Steph
had gone to the market with my mother and the baby was sleeping in her cradle;
she gave me her food and all she needed in case she wakes up. But I guess Steph
left out details. Or perhaps, I wasn’t listening. Maybe I didn’t pay full
attention to details. I was caught in my oblivious.
Believe
it or not, the baby woke up with deafening cry the very moment they left
home. I picked her up to rock her back
to sleep only to catch the whiff of the one thing I dread the most. My soul
almost left my body. I quickly put her down and impulsively picked my phone. I dialled
Steph’s number and the phone rang just before my eyes. She had forgotten her
phone as usual. I called mama and she didn’t help matters at all. She asked me
to take care of my baby that she and Steph won’t be home for the next couple of
hours. I was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. Yea! I was between
the hell and high waters. I almost ran of the house as she kept screaming at
the top of her lungs. If I wait for Steph to come and change it for the sake of
the stink bomb and watch my child cry for an hour, then what kind of father
would I be? Thank God for smartphones. I had to face my demons all by myself. I
brought out my smartphone and the rest was history.
I made quite a mess while following the
instructions from the video. But I did it finally. Steph and mama came home
after about an hour, and
they noticed the change. The touch of a professional. I had place where should
be the back to the front and the front to the back and didn’t know. They should
laugh all they want, but for me, I am very proud of myself for changing my
daughter’s diaper when she needed me. And I’m absolutely telling her the story
when she becomes a woman.
©
I.J. Kalia
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