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Doting Dads | Mumbai Mum

There is nothing more heartwarming than watching a grown man coo over a baby, especially when it’s yours (and his!). I remember saying to my Mum and Dad before Annabelle was born that I was worried about how having a baby would affect our relationship and would we be able to make enough time for one another. My Dad responded with “it will bring you so much closer” and he was right.

When preparing for Annabelle’s arrival we tried to get as many things second hand and we tried to save money wherever possible. We didn’t buy essentials like prams or baths because we weren’t sure if we would use them and whether it was worth the cost. (I should clarify for folks that Mumbai’s pavements are not exactly conducive to prams; they are broken, missing man hole covers and have ruddy great blockages like trees and electric boxes in the way – check out this piece from BombayJules for the full flavour! And the flats are quite small with no baths and only showers so we weren’t sure about which type of bath to go for). Anyway – I digress.

Before our daughter was born my husband and I talked extensively about the ways we would bring up our children; we wouldn’t spoil them with material items, we would send them out to work at a young age to foster independence (by the way, is 2years old too young?), we would be strict with discipline, etc etc. And then Annabelle was born! How things changed on that day!

Annabelle must have been no more than 5 days old when my husband went out to Mothercare in Juhu with my Mum. When he got home he actually ran into the bedroom where I was napping, shook me awake and said “look, look what I bought for Annabelle” – Only the biggest pram for sale, the biggest bath for sale and a load of towels and clothes! He has doted on her ever since, it’s beautiful to witness.

We agreed that we wouldn’t co-sleep or share our bed with the baby, and to be fair we have stuck to it. But on the rare occasion when Annabelle won’t settle Matt is quick to say bring her into bed, he then doesn’t get a wink of sleep for fear of squashing her whilst I blissfully roll off into slumber knowing Annabelle is safe in her Dad’s arms! After a long week of sleep training the weekend came around and it was time to put Annabelle down for her afternoon nap, Matt kindly offered to do it. She bleated for a few minutes so he went in, picked her and stood by the door watching the rain with Annabelle in his arms. He looked over guiltily at me and said “she just wants a cuddle”. I don’t mind, we can’t be so strict on our sleep training that Dad’s can’t cuddle their babies, can we?

When my husband comes home at night Annabelle is usually in bed. Matt will go into the bedroom, shut the door behind him (as though to keep the noise and light out) but I know that it’s so he can coo over Annabelle without me saying “don’t wake the baby!” He gets her up for her 10 o’clock feed and changes her nappy all the while singing and chatting to her. If she’s really lucky he’ll throw in a dance too. And in the mornings he burps her after her 7am feed before heading off to work. More often than not she’s sick on his shirt or over his trousers, but he doesn’t care anymore!

Matt talks about parent evenings, reading her stories, camping together and picking her up from the school gates. Writing as a girl with a most wonderful father I know how important it is to have such a great dad and I am so pleased that I picked a good one in Matt.

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