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8 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • April 2016 letter to the readers PUBLISHER Leigh Anne Van Doren Tabitha & Jamie Nelle's mom EDITOR-AT-LARGE Chris Jones Jordan, Quincy, Hayden & Olive's dad OPERATIONS Stephanie Maldonado Julia, Tyler & Aiden's mom BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & MARKETING Heidi DiEugenio, President, HD Solutions Duke & Dane's mom ADVERTISING & SALES Sheila Giscard Jack's mom DESIGN & PRODUCTION Cheryl Carter, President, Carter Creations Alex, Kate & Jackie's mom WEBMASTER Karen Charney Joshua & Spencer's mom SOCIAL MEDIA Brenda Sapanghila Archer & Maddox's mom CALENDAR Leigha Pecher Jake & Luke's mom COMMUNITY BLOGS Mary Becelia Katherine Laura & Robert Joseph's mom FACEBOOK COMMUNITY Pamela Quinones Corinn, Michael, Isabella & Dalton's mom parent fredericksburg & family Entrepreneur of the Year PROUD FOUNDING MEMBER ADVERTISING PHONE 540/374-1495 E-MAIL adsales@fredericksburgparent.net CALENDAR & SOCIAL MEDIA E-MAIL socialmedia@fredericksburgparent.net EDITORIAL PHONE 540/374-1495 E-MAIL editor@fredericksburgparent.net SNAIL MAIL P.O. Box 7884, Fred'bg, VA 22404 www.fredericksburgparent.net The publishers reserve the right to reject any advertisement, editorial or listing that does not meet the publication's standards. No part of this magazine may be reproduced with out permission. Listing and advertising rates are available upon request. Every effort has been made to assure the accuracy of the information con- tained herein, however, the publisher cannot guarantee such accuracy. Listings and advertisements are subject to typographical errors, ommissions and/or change without notice. For terms and conditions please visit our website at www.fredericksburgparent.net © Copyright 2016 Nurture, Inc. All rights reserved. WRITTEN BY CHRIS JONES LIKE facebook.com/ FredericksburgParent SIGN UP www.FredParent.net TWEET facebook.com/ FredericksburgParent PIN www.pinterest.com/ fredparent FOLLOW @fredparentmagazine Having a family isn't for the faint of heart. Once you've made the decision to start, there are no take-backs. Parenting children is an exciting concept when the child is still in utero. You have these wild, idyllic visions of a cute baby who you'll cuddle with and who will eat, sleep and coo as she takes in the largeness of the new world around her. She will love you from first glance and you'll give her the keys to the kingdom. Then the reality sets in — quickly. Yes, the baby is still cute. She'll even eat for you, but as for the sleeping and cooing, she'll make you earn that level of peace. It's like trying to earn an achieve- ment in a video game. And as far as what other dads say, … well, early on, that's rubbish, too. There was many a groggy morning that I thought she might have me wrapped around a telephone pole instead. Grande Americano, please — yes, all four shots. We're closing in on the five-month mark. The sleep is getting there for us, but the cooing and the cuteness are still going strong. And as dads, we have little to latch on to out of the gate. Depending on what our wife chooses, we may or may not feed the baby, which means we have little power to comfort her when she's showing off the volume of her lungs. Kind of ren- ders us useless for a while. But then, there's that one day when you're holding her in your arms and she smiles at you. The child who has robbed you of many nights of sleep has now stolen your heart, too. The words run back through your head, "She's going to have you wrapped around her finger!" It's true. I officially felt like the dad of a daughter and suddenly I wanted to hold her all of the time, I wanted push the stroller, and I wanted to read her books — "Olivia gets dressed. She has to try on everything…" And amidst all of the pink clothes and the adorable headbands, that moment of clarity hits when I realized that this isn't going to get better. This is the best of the worst. She's moved in to my heart, kicked the boys out, and there's nothing I can do about it. And despite being 5 months old, that smile she flashes at me tells me that she knows it, too. Wrapped "She's going to have you wrapped around her finger!"