This morning, I put away my razor, tossed out my shaving
cream and took my electric shaver off the charger. I won’t need them until the
summer.
Today begins what I am dubbing “Beard to Baby”. I am vowing not
to shave until our first child is born on or around June 28, 2015. I’m starting
with a clean slate. Just last night, before heading out for New Year’s revelry
(specifically, a lovely dinner and a beer with friends), I shaved the
carefully-groomed, perma-stubble that Gawker once referred to as the
markof a low moral character.
Today is the first
day my face has been completely clean-shaven in a year-and-a-half. Sadly, I was
not carded for buying beer this morning. So that theory is out the window. I
guess I’m just old now.
Why am I doing this? I like to contribute. Physically, there
is very little I can contribute to pregnancy at this stage of the game. Sure, I can pick up the slack
around the house, be extra attentive to Lauren’s needs, go out of my way to
make sure she is comfortable, etc. and of course, I plan to do all those
things. But, the reality is while she is dealing with nausea, exhaustion and
bloating, quite frankly, I feel fantastic. That doesn't seem fair. Obviously, a
scratchy beard does not even come close to carrying a child. I’m not trying to
pretend it does. However, it will leave me somewhat uncomfortable over the next
six months thus allowing for at least minimal commiseration in the Holder
household.
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| The last beard. Speaking to students at SUNY Oswego. In the academic world, beard = wisdom, |
The bearded among you will say, “having a beard is awesome!” Not for me. I
attempted “Beards to Boston” last year and hated every second of it. When I got
injured and couldn't resume training, shaving that stringy, red hair off my
face was the only upside to dropping the dream. This time around I’ll again be training for a marathon (Vermont City on May 24th) but the beard doesn't go away
after the race.
I’m not a beard guy. So,
if you’re a hipster, lumbersexual, truck driver, wizard or any other veteran
wearer of facial hair, I’d appreciate any beard tips. As you can see, I have a
long way to go…
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| Day 1 |
