Why isn't anyone else as excited as me?

This week I had the pleasure of getting to see the first ultrasound picture of a new baby boy. Dad handed me the picture(one of the 3D kind - really cool!) and I looked at it and with genuine excitement and said "This is so cool - I can see his nose right there!" as I pointed to it. Dad looked over my shoulder and said "Uh, Scott, that is the placenta." He then turned the picture 90 degrees and there was clearly a face with a nose and two eyes. His hand was also cradled under his head. It was really cute. He was excited - and having been through it a few times myself I knew that he needed to see excitement from me, and to me new life is wonderful, so that was easy. He even forgave me for mistaking the placenta for his soon to be handsome, smart, you can be anything you want to - son. New life is cool.

As we talked he also shared with me how he can remember a time when others were having children before he was married, and although he was kind during the conversations, it used to drive him crazy to have to listen to dads gush about fuzzy pictures of future children, home videos, etc. . . . Now, when the shoe is on the other foot, he loves the excitement and wants others to share it with. Don't we all want that? Have you ever had to fake excitement for the sake of a friend who is a new dad?

Well, here are some thoughts. I do like the pictures, but I really like to focus on the excitement coming off dad. For me, that is contagious. So next time you are in that situation - here are some questions that will get him excited. Ask him:
How did you feel when you first saw the image?
What was going through your mind?
So do you feel like a dad yet?

Simple questions / simple answers / and in the end it will probably make that moment a bit more memorable for him and for you. Remember, the definition for Moment includes 'significance'. Significance comes from making dad think, make him talk, and letting him know you care - and there is no need to close this scene with a hug - just high five and go shoot some baskets. :)