| 1) Introduction | 2) About Me |
| 3) Our Story | 4) Journey Begins |
| 5) Cast of Characters | 6) Why I Blog |
Introduction
Parenthood is an awesome responsibility, for sure, but also an infinite source of joy, purpose and humor as well! On these pages – my wife Melani & I (Chip) chronicle our family’s journey into the unknown with funny & insightful stories, tips and observations all in an effort to become better parents ourselves and hopefully help inspire all parents to be the very best they can possibly be!
Honored Parents
Simply said, my wife and I are extremely honored to be parents! While she may have been more certain than I was coming into the marriage that she really wanted to be a parent, it is something that we both now feel very blessed and privileged to be. We look at our little family and think about how WE have been entrusted to provide a childhood for these 4 adorable little beings! An awesome responsibility – for sure, but an infinite source of joy and purpose as well!
Our sincere hope in starting this blog is to share some of that joy with you and inspire all parents to be the very best parents they can be! And to those who are not yet parents – we hope to inspire you to want to become parents and embark on this awesome adventure as well!
Please join us on this adventure and help us build up a healthy community to support & inspire parents with funny, inspirational and insightful stories! Share your story with us today!
Please join us on our parenthood adventures!
About Me
My name is Chip and I am the trophy husband to Melani and blessed father to 4 wonderful children! I definitely score very high on the geek / nerd spectrum assessment test and have a wide variety of interests. Deep down I think I aspire to be a true renaissance man!
I was fortunate (and foolish enough) to spend 10 years as a full-time college student – and accumulated degrees in finance (BS), psychology (BA), nutrition (MA) and law (JD). Enough school – right? Well… I kind of went back even after all of that – But just for one more year! In that final year I did all my pre-med requirements in a single year – because I was thinking about going to med school….. Somewhere along the way in the very tedious process of applying and interviewing for medical schools I realized that I really didn’t want to be either a lawyer or a doctor – but rather really just wanted to stay in school…. So I finally left the academic environment and entered the “Real World”.
I am a licensed attorney in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®). Blogging is just a hobby right now and I make a living being a financial advisor. I try to bring all of that perspective into my parenting philosophy and my blogs posts – for better or for worse (that’s for you to decide)!
Please note: The views expressed on these pages & posts are solely my own and are not necessarily approved, endorsed or even acknowledged by the management of the Williamson household! They are also subject to change – as I grow as a father, husband & individual.
Our Story
I was not as certain, initially, of how I felt about becoming a parent. But, as will become apparent as you read future postings to this blog – I am someone who is consistently surprised by my own profound ignorance at times! Becoming a parent – was one such example of this. With the birth of our first child I had had an epiphany, and finally felt like I had truly found my purpose in life! But how did I get to that point?
My wife and I married in the early 2000’s. I am about 10 years older than her – and had spent many years in college pursuing multiple degrees and traveling around the world during the summers. It was an interesting and fun time in my life – but I was ready to find that someone special and settle down. Although I was ready for that next chapter in my life – it didn’t happen for me right away (the getting married part).
After a couple years of working in the town I grew up in, I met my wife at a church function – and a few years later we were married. After a romantic honeymoon to Italy and adapting to being homeowners, we naively felt ready to have a child.
Unfortunately my wife’s first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage after just 12 weeks. A couple of years later, we suffered another miscarriage at just about the same point in the pregnancy. People began talking to us about adopting and undergoing testing to determine what was going on. It took us some time – but we decided to forego those avenues and try one more time – and we were blessed with a wonderful little girl! And suddenly, the guy who never liked to hold babies (me) loved holding his little daughter and was hooked for life! Light bulb on!
The Journey of Parenthood & The Adventures Begin!
Our first child was a girl and was born after having 2 miscarriages in the 2 years immediately prior to her birth. My wife was in labor for a long time (~ 14 hours) – and definitely apprehensive about the pregnancy finale of actually giving birth. I did try to remind her, on numerous occasions, that women had been doing this for eons –and that it was not really such a big deal. Billions of people had done it before her – and billions would continue to do it after her. Ah, yes – she did NOT appreciate or find compelling my well intentioned, but unsympathetic logical male perspective on these occasions….
We had attended Lamaze classes to prepare for the Big Day – so I was also being the dutiful husband and doing all the things we learned – in addition to my previously unsuccessful attempts to reason with her. Things like holding her hand, reminding her to breathe and that despite the pain – getting a baby at the end of the process was a really good deal and something we very much wanted! In the hours before the birth I joked with friends and family that I was the one in real pain – as my wife had crushed my fingers squeezing my hand so hard during many of the contractions.
Eventually, it came time for the delivery. The obstetrician arrived and was wonderful and calming – bringing a much needed air of routine confidence to the room. After several sets of contractions with intense pushing from my wife – a beautiful little girl was finally born.
I was truly amazed at the entire process and that I did not faint! Years before I had volunteered in a local emergency room – and nearly fainted seeing shards of broken glass being removed from someone’s scalp. Maybe it was because I knew my wife and soon-to-be-born child needed me, or maybe it was pure adrenaline, but either way – both my wife and I had pulled through the experience.
The doctor was holding the baby and offered to let me cut the umbilical cord. I eagerly took the opportunity – and feeling emboldened by the fact that we were now out-of-the-woods and everyone was healthy – I suggested that maybe I should also finally sever the cord that still seemed to be attached between my wife and her mother. Yea. All the women in the room weren’t impressed either – and just glared at me with the evil eye…..
After the nurses and doctor inspected and measured our little daughter (like a prize winning trout) they gave her back to my wife to hold with all the vernix and everything still on her. She was an amazing and peaceful little miracle. My wife and I looked at each other – and I don’t know if it was her or me that suggested the name first– but we just looked at each other and agreed.
By the grace of God we were given a little daughter – and her name would be Grace!
And so this journey of parenthood would begin for Melani & me, with many wonderful, challenging and unexpected adventures along the way!
Cast of Characters
Click here to see the Cast of Characters that make up this family. But be forewarned – it is a motley crew, and one that you CANNOT un-see!
Why I Blog
I blog for several reasons:
- I enjoy writing and need a creative outlet!
- I believe that we can and should build each other up as parents – that it is in society’s best interest for us to all be the best parents we can possibly be. The better job we do as parents – the better the individuals of the next generation will be. Better individuals = better society for all….. So this is my humble effort to contribute to the greater community of parents, and create a venue for positive, creative, insightful and hopefully, at times, humorous dialogue about parenting.
- I hope to actually make some money from my endeavors!
- I want my children to see what entrepreneurship looks like and entails – by my example. I do believe that actions speak louder than words – and children are a lot more likely to remember what you DID as opposed to what you SAID! Even if I don’t end up making any money at this – I want to foster in them an entrepreneurial spirit. I believe that the world is changing rapidly and that they need to have this type of spirit and perspective to not only survive in the world – but rather thrive!
- I love my family very much – and want there to be something (other than the hopefully positive and indelible imprint I have made on their lives while we are / were together) that they can always go to in the event something happens to me to remember just how much I loved them.
- Here, my children will find what I feel / felt was important that they learn in life. My children are my main audience for this blog and these are the life lessons I want them to learn from me. (Yes – I actually do make them read these posts!) So this will forever be a work-in-progress – as I recognize that I must always strive to be learning and growing as a person and a parent.
- Finally, my family will have a virtual scrapbook that highlights some of the awesome adventures we have shared along the way on this amazing journey as a family!
Sincerely,
