Fatherhood never fails to disappoint when it comes to new trials and tribulations (and opportunities for greatness). Case in point, in this year of firsts, my eight-month-old son and I are going to experience yet another first together:

Several days of just me and him. And a plane trip to boot. All without the wife-mother.

Should I be worried? Will my boy immediately freak out once his mother fades from the taxi’s rear-view mirror? Without my wife’s calming influence, will I be the one who loses it when she slips out of view?

There are so many things that I rely on her for when it comes to child-rearing. Pretty much everything, actually. On a typical night when my wife goes out, I get all flummoxed and forget everything I ever knew about how to take care of the kid. I think: what will i feed him? If he cries, is it his diaper that needs changing? It’s clear that I need to be a bit more confident about my care-taking abilities.

I have to admit, fatherhood can stress me out at times. But as my wife keeps reminding me, our boy didn’t make the choice to land on our doorstep…we invited him here. So even though I sometimes view all the baby-stuff as, well, “work”, perhaps going mano-a-mano with the lad over a few days will form an even deeper bond between us

Or drive me absolutely stark-raving.

What was your first baby-trip like sans significant other? Did you lose it? Or did you come back an all-knowing sage?