First Smile and Wish Fulfilment

I'm not a great believer in wish fulfilment, I think that people have to work for what they get and that if something comes too easily then it's not always valued as much as it should be. That said, like most people I know, this should be applied to others more than to me - I'm the exception!

A few nights ago I was saying to my wife that it was about time we had some reward. I'm a technical person and like things to "plug and play". So much so that despite the books I'd read, when my new baby turned up I was expecting talking within a few days. Maybe not full conversations, but perhaps enough to talk about the weather (she is English after all!). Not only did I not get talking, I didn't get her eyes focused on me. This daughter of mine was definitely one toy that wasn't going to work straight out of the box.

But back to my reward, two nights after I said this I was changing her nappy and she was in a great mood. It was one of those father and daughter bonding moments when she was kicking and cooing and there it was - a smile. Naturally suspicious, I waited for the inevitable burp or bowel movement that had followed these face pullings in the past. And waited. And waited. Nothing.

So there it was, her first smile, and I feel I've earned it with hours of jiggling and rocking and walking up and down the room. It might be that smiles are free, but I've never worked so hard for one or felt so great when it came, than my daughter's first smile to her Dad.