I had my first child, a boy. Times were very different then..every mother looked like Betty Crocker and the babies all looked like the Gerber baby. Whenever you asked someone how their baby was, they would say wonderful, the baby’s fine, couldn’t be better. Everything was beautiful. All families were like Ozzie and Harriet, and this is what you went into childbirth thinking. What an awakening. A few weeks into this lifetime commitment, when asked how’s the baby, I would answer honestly,  this is not what I expected, it borders on being a nightmare.   Where is that happy little Gerber baby?   Mine slept nights, but didn’t  sleep a wink during the day and there was nothing to do with him. You have to remember, all we had was a hand held rattle (that the Mother jiggled) to amuse a baby. That rattle routine would last maybe one minute and then you were left comforting the cries of boredom for the rest of the day. There was no mechanical apparatus to swing them, rock them, bounce them. You were it, and at the end of the day you were exhausted.    Friends would admit that it wasn’t as wonderful as they had said, but didn’t want to scare me. I think it was more, misery loves company. Fortunately for him and me, it was not long before I fell head over heels in love with my little Rumpelstiltskin, so much so that two years later when anticipating the birth of a second child, I wanted a boy, which I did have. But to my first born I want to take this opportunity to wish him a Happy Birthday, and thank him for all the life lessons I have learned through him. I might add his brother Pete added to the list of  lessons also.  Happy Birthday Joe, have a great day.