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Home Is Where the Hearts Are
A Dad's Eye View of Bringing Baby Home for the First Time
By Mark Stackpole
As we pulled up to the driveway, I saw something in my front yard that gave me pause. I felt a rush of love, joy and guilt as I saw giant wooden cut-outs of Piglet and Pooh holding a banner announcing the date of Corinne's arrival. Handmade and painted by her godparents 500 miles south of our home, they had driven up to meet her and give her an official welcome. What had I done in that department? I'm not talking about the building, painting and installing – that's what a dad is supposed to do. But had I done enough to make it seem like a celebration of her entrance into our lives and home?
As anxious as that first trip home can be, there are a lot of things that dads can, and should, do to help welcome his new family home.
"Any celebratory event to herald the new arrival home would be most welcome; this would be a cultural response," says Irene Zoppi, a breastfeeding expert and clinical education specialist for Medela, Inc. "Italians, for example, are superstitious about planning for birth; baby showers are not an Italian custom. However, family is a special place for celebration and 'homecoming' may involve many family members with lots of celebratory food. Banners and balloons frequently appear today in neighborhoods when a new family has returned home."
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