My Letter to Dr. Laura

Okay, here is pretty much what I wrote to Dr. Laura, and what she read on the air today (Wednesday 12/10) to start her first hour and go on a long rant for the rest of the opening segment. I say "pretty much" because there might be slight variations in the actual letter, since I had only saved part of the text in my computer and added the intro and conclusion that she read on the air when I pasted the meat of the letter to her e-mail window, and might have done some insignificant edits.


I got an unsolicited e-mail from a childcare provider in my city. Here's my reply:

I don't know you. You may be the best in your business. But you can't replace my child's mother.

One of the main reasons I got married was so that a stranger would not raise my child. My wife takes care of our child, thank you very much. Sure, it means we don't have a tiny bit more of income (after the higher taxes and other expenses we'd have to pay), but I figure my little girl is best with her own mother. My wife is an R.N. Now she has just two patients.

Some people would call me lucky because I can afford to have my wife take care of our child and home. But it wasn't luck. It was a lot of hard work and patience. There were a lot of things I didn't buy along the way, a lot of drinks I didn't gulp, I lot of vacations I didn't take. I didn't make babies out of wedlock. I didn't shack up. I didn't marry the wrong person just to take a relationship "to the next level". I stayed unmarried and childless until I found the right woman - a woman who also lived within her means. Then I married her. Before getting her pregnant.

In the mean time, I didn't get drunk, I didn't do drugs, I didn't gamble away my money. I didn't buy stuff I couldn't afford. I drove cars that weren't sexy. I worked at a job starting in high school, I completed college, I ended up working a full time job, a part-time job, and a freelance gig for five years before dropping the part-time job.

My wife finished college in four years despite significant challenges and then workedher butt off and was very careful with her money. She didn't make babies. She waitedto find the right man to be her husband.

Sure, we owe it all to God. God could take it all away tomorrow.

But it isn't luck.

And we don't use day orphanages. Thank God.

Thanks Dr. Laura. Thanks for helping me so see how blessed I am to have a loving wife who is my girlfriend and who is her kid's mom.

I am my kid's dad.