Love and understanding on Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! To those who celebrate, I hope you’re enjoying the holiday with friends and family. And to those who don’t, I wish you a day filled with peace and love.

One of my favorite holiday songs, “The Christmas Waltz” originally by Frank Sinatra, has a line that says, “It's that time of year when the world falls in love.” And that could not be more true this year for me.

My wife and I welcomed our first child into the world last week. An early Christmas present and the best we’ve ever received.

Robert Callum Blanco was born a healthy baby boy in D.C. Callum and mom are doing great. He’s an absolute bundle of joy with five tools: snuggly, squishy, smiley, squeaky and simply lovable. And his mother is a superhero by my standards.

Usually the one asking in interviews, I’ve fielded a lot of questions about what fatherhood is like for me. The best answer I’ve come up with in these early days is understanding.

I understand what my amazing wife, Megan, went through while carrying a growing baby over the last nine months. I understand what she endured to give him life. I’ll never go through those myself, but I have an understanding of them.

I understand why ballplayers are a little tense in the days leading up their paternity leave. (The drives to and from the hospital were not my favorite car rides I’ve taken.)

I understand why they are so overjoyed yet sad upon their return to the team after what I now know feels like the longest yet shortest days of your life.

I understand why players bring their kids around the clubhouse so often, no matter the age. And I understand why they have their families join them so often on road trips during a long season. I always look forward to spring training, but it’s still December and I’m already dreading the thought of leaving Callum for even a day, nonetheless a week or so in March.

And I understand why people say parenthood is the best and hardest thing you’ll do in your life.

In his short time with us, I’ve never been away from Callum for more than 15 minutes, and even that felt too long apart. I would stare at his face 24/7 if I could.

In fact, I was staring at him as I wrote this after a particularly eventful late-night (actually, more like really early-morning) feeding session. I still would take it over bullpen sessions at the moment.

Over an hour and a half, we went through three different bottles, two diapers and two outfits, plus a shirt change for myself. It was like a bullpen game with all of the changes, except I was my own reinforcement as I let my wife sleep to get some much-deserved rest.

Callum has not only given me a new understanding of life, but also patience. I have never been more patient in my life in all things I do, with my mind usually running as fast as James Wood around the bases.

It was a difficult year for our world in 2024, especially outside of sports. But on this Christmas morning, it’s hard not to think about the themes we hear so often this time of year – love, peace, compassion – and try to apply them to our everyday lives as we move into 2025.

People will always disagree on politics, sports and current events. But we all love the same. We all can’t help but smile when we look into the eyes of loved ones, especially our own children. I understand that now.

As it relates to baseball, I hope Nationals fans practice some more understanding and patience as we continue through this offseason and get closer to the new season.

Have the Nats made a big splash this offseason? No, especially not compared to what some other teams have already done. There are still some things left on their wish list even after signing right-hander Michael Soroka and trading for first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. There’s no guarantee general manager Mike Rizzo will find a major acquisition under his tree this morning. (That would be a whole other thing to talk about …)

But it’s only Dec. 25. There are still two months left before the Nats report to West Palm Beach. Max Scherzer, Daniel Murphy, Howie Kendrick, Brian Dozier, Ryan Zimmerman (twice), Kyle Schwarber, Brad Hand and Jon Lester were all signed or re-signed in January over the years.

Rizzo still has time to make more moves. Some more patience may be required.

Fans should also understand what this team is working toward. Yes, it was exciting to see all the young players come up this season and show signs the Nats could finally turn the corner after five long years since the World Series title. Yes, expectations for next year have grown exponentially, and adding some veteran talent would help with a potential playoff push.

But understand that this team is slightly ahead of schedule. The long-term goal is to be back in contention for a decade-plus in a couple of years, not go all in to maybe sneak into the playoffs in 2025. They’re still waiting for some young pieces to develop,

The love for my son has given me a lot more understanding and patience. Maybe it’s the warm feelings in the air this time of year that also allow me to feel this way. Or maybe these are just delirious thoughts from a sleep-deprived new father. But I hope you take these words to heart, whether in your everyday life or in your Nats fandom.

We are fortunate enough to be around family on Christmas. We’ll eat, drink and be merry while wearing jingle jammies all day. Not just Callum. Adults too. As it should be.

We’ll toast the new additions to the family and the memories of those no longer with us. I’ll look to my dad, my hero who I admire so much, as a guiding light for my own journey into fatherhood. And we’ll remember his father, the biggest role model in each of our lives, who passed away three years ago.

But now we can see a little bit of my Abuelito more often. The general consensus so far is that Callum looks a lot like him. My son definitely has my eyes, which I inherited from my grandfather. I wish so much that he could have met his great-grandson just once.

My Abuelito is still with us in spirit, though. Callum will grow up calling his paternal grandfather “Abuelito” just like I did. My dad wasn’t sure he was worthy to be called that. I told him Abuelito is more of a mindset and lifestyle than a name. He couldn’t be any more of an Abuelito.

His father will be with us today because there is always magic on Christmas. Yes, I still believe. I always have and I always will. It even started snowing as I wrote this early Christmas Eve morning. How is that not a sign?

And so whether you celebrate the holiday or not, I’ll leave you with a continuing variation of “The Christmas Waltz” …

Every story you read seems to say, "Merry Christmas, may your New Year dreams come true." And this post of mine in New Roman Times wishes you and yours the same thing, too.