| In
the Heat of the Moment |
| It's 95 degrees outside, but this is the coldest summer
I can remember. |
| I am living with an inferno. |
| The œHow to be a Great Dad” books don't tell you that your
wife will become a furnace in about the fifth month of the
pregnancy. Katie will tell you that I haven't been reading
up on how to be a father, but little does she know I have
been sneaking in chapters when she's not looking. |
| I have a pretty good grasp of the fatherhood part. I'm not
sure about labor, delivery, child care, or any of that stuff,
but I know all I need to know about teaching my child to read,
dance, play in the sprinkler, and become a professional race
car driver. (Did I say that out loud?) |
| Katie was always sensitive to the summer heat before, and
now that she's carrying around a portable heater in her belly,
it's become unbearable. For her and for me. |
| If it reaches 100 degrees outside, I'll never know it, because
my wife is struggling to keep cool by turning the air conditioner
lower and lower and lower, until I can see my breath when
I rise in the morning. |
| Katie sits at the breakfast table in a sleeveless shirt,
as comfortable as a beagle in the sun. I'm wearing flannel,
and when my morning tea can't keep my blood warm anymore I
throw on a fleece to stop my teeth from chattering. |
| To complicate matters, we live in a townhouse, which naturally
has a bit of a temperature difference between the coolest
parts of the house in the basement, the middle level and the
upper level. |
| The basement is generally a nice, cool place to catch your
breath in the hot summer. You stroll out the back door into
the stifling heat and you can feel your skin stretch, like
an ice cube dropped into a warm glass of water. |
| The middle level is where the temperature of the house should
be comfortable. If I can't stand to sit on the couch in shorts
and watch TV on the middle level, then the thermostat is set
too cold for my liking. |
| But upstairs is a whole new world of temperature fluctuation.
I think many townhouses have the same problem mine does, which
is that all the hot air from the two levels below rises up,
so the upstairs is usually warmer than the rest of the house. |
| The problem is that, once again, I live with an inferno.
Katie in her pregnant state needs to be kept cool, but in
order to keep the upstairs at a comfortable temperature for
her, the lower levels are icebergs. Icebergs. |
| The basement is freezing. I feel like an Arctic explorer
if I wander downstairs without shoes and socks. If I left
a roast out to defrost on the kitchen counter, it would be
hard as marble for two weeks. |
| Last weekend was the greatest for Katie and me. The windows
were open all weekend. The 60- and 70-degree weather kept
the mother-to-be happy and gave me a socially acceptable reason
to wear a long-sleeved shirt. |
| I suppose this might be just the beginning of keeping the
temperature in the house set at someone else's temperature,
for as Katie's belly grows and she gets hotter, the day grows
closer. |
| But I'm ready. I've read as much of the books as I need.
We've settled on the names. I've been to the classes with
my wife and fully understand what I need to do for her when
the time comes. |
| I'm ready to be a dad, but maybe I'd better skim over that
chapter on fatherhood one more time. With a sweater on. And
a warm cup of tea. |
