A Never-ending List of Firsts

As I get older, and as I watch my kids get older. I begin to think about all the firsts that my kids are going through and all the firsts I went through. My daughter's first tooth. My nephew-in-law's first snow storm. My son's first interest in a superhero, although he seems to really be attached to Spiderman despite all my efforts to get him interested in Superman (But, let's be honest, the Spiderman movie was just a lot cooler then Superman Returns.)

I think of all the firsts I've gone through. First kiss, first and only wife, first really bad haircut, first public humiliation. It gives me chills to think about all the things that my kids still get to go out and do. It's times like this that suddenly the old-man's adage about how youth is wasted on the young suddenly rings true. I guess I could just take that I am now old and uncool, all I need now is for one of my kids to roll their eyes at me for something. Then it will be official.

Nevertheless, in my old age I still find myself in a situation where there are still firsts out there. The latest one is that my best friend had his first kid. "How in the world does that relate to being a first for you, you selfish pig?" You ask? Well, as I was sitting with my friend in sacrament meeting I saw him struggling to try and calm his son down. He looked nervous, self-conscious and insecure. I wanted to say something to him to make him feel that it's normal. I am a two-time father so I know that every parent out there just smiles and understands when they hear a child going meltdown in the middle of sacrament meeting. Nevertheless, how do you communicate that to a new parent? Let's be honest, before we had kids we all thought about how rude those parents are that can't keep control of their children, but once we have kids we suddenly realize that keeping children quiet is like juggling chainsaws. I told him that it's all part of being a father, and I felt like a goon spouting off platitudes. I really want to be a good friend, but I really don't know how to go about it. Then again, sometimes all you can do is be there and be yourself. Although I really don't like the second answer because I do a lot of that. It really is times like these when you really need to keep the line of communication between you and the Lord open. That way if he can send a some inspiration he can.