Jackson Free Press

I haven't been on a bike in years. Not because the desire isn't there. Well, kind of. I haven't been bike shopping longer than I have actually ridden one; I'll have to wait and see if I can still maneuver.

Folks always say that some things in life are much like riding a bike: although you go years without doing them, you can always pick up where you left off. Those things, "they" say, never leave you: swimming, multiplication tables, hula hoops, roller-skating and the like. You may be a tad rusty, but if you get a few practice runs you can be good as new.

Through marriage and nine months of a pregnancy, I figured rearing a newborn would be much like riding that old trusty bike—couldn't be too hard. I'd picked up some valuable tips and experience along the way. Little Bralynn would be a piece of cake: I'm a veteran of these parenting wars. Hell, I raised two of my own and kept them safe to the ripe old ages of 16 and 13. My wife had reared a strapping 14-year-old son who didn't have a scratch on him. We hadn't wiped a runny nose in years, but we had handed out chores and curfews like nobody's business. We "knew" what we were doing. Having a baby couldn't be that bad, right? Wrong!

There's something to be said for parents who have their kids back-to-back. I sympathize with the mother in the mall trying to herd a 6-, 3- and 1-year-old and keep her sanity. But, that's practical experience being put to use. Not long after you've figured it out, you've got another baby to try out some new parenting techniques on. It's like back-to-back games during a Major League Baseball season. One game ends, and you're already warmed up for another.

But try putting a decade or more in between babies and see how that works out for you. I thought I could just pick up where I left off and get right back into the grind of raising a baby. Well, the mechanics on the bike had changed after about 12 years.

First of all, having a baby in your 30s is definitely different than having one in your early 20s. If you don't know, ask somebody. The old body just doesn't bounce back like it used to, does it? The same guy that could come in after a raucous night of partying, stay up with a baby and still be rested at 7 a.m. the next morning is dead.

Sleep is now that elusive prize that remains just out of my reach each night. Each sleep-deprived night is drawing me closer to goofiness. I'm having trouble remembering my way home most nights. Newborns require you to fulfill their every need. It's a high-maintenance job that some folks take lightly. We've got several years of diaper changes, feedings, colds and tantrums to weed through before things change.

But you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way. The joys of fatherhood rival anything that I've achieved in any other facet of my personal or professional life. No hit record, no award, no successful business venture can make me feel the same love that looking into the eyes of my little princess does.

It's a blessing to be able to give life and take care of that life. It's beholding something greater than yourself: a little bundle of motivation that drives me to voraciously win at everything I do just so my kids can benefit.

Babies don't come with instructions and bikes don't ride themselves. But sometimes the fun is not in "riding" the bike, but in actually "learning" how to ride the bike—whether you're 6 or 36.

And that's the truth ... sho-nuff.