It was a long-awaited and much-celebrated event when Levent’s son was born in October. Levent, his wife and their son Emir, live in Hatay, on the Turkish – Syrian border, and is an Agricultural Engineer.

One day, my wife gave me a box. She told me to open it.
I thought it was a present and I certainly wasn’t expecting what would be inside. I opened the box, saw a pacifier and looked into her eyes.

“Is it true?”, I asked.
“Yes.”, she replied.
I was so happy.

It was a blue box, so I started thinking that my baby would be a boy. My wife didn’t think so. She ignored the colour of the box. She was hoping for a girl.

When I learned that my wife was pregnant, I was very happy. However, because of my work, I never took much time for her. This saddened me and I vowed never to make the same mistake again. I will try to give all my time to our son.

My wife bought many things for him. Baby clothes, things to decorate his room with, his baby cot and many other things. I couldn’t help her and in hindsight, I deeply regret this.

When Emir arrived, I was too afraid to hold him for the first time. He was so small. When he cried, I felt bad. When he smiled at me, I was in seventh heaven.

I began to think about my parents when I was a baby. Emir was 20 days old and I started to reflect on my first days.
How was I born? Did I cry a lot or not so much?

I know my parents didn’t get much sleep and I owe a lot to them.

It’s nice that we do not think of ourselves but of our son. We constantly check on him to make sure everything is ok. When he cries, we want to know if he is hungry or is a little cold. We try to protect him against many things.

We learned a lot in the first week. My wife couldn’t eat anything the day after Emir’s birth. As a result, there was not enough milk for him to drink and the contents of his nappy were a black liquid. Over time his stool changed to brown and to gold.

We didn’t know, and we were afraid when we saw the first stool. But we learned. And we were confronted with what our parents had to go through when we were a baby. I have started to make plans for my son. I want him to grow and prosper in good conditions. My circumstances are modest at the moment, but I will do my best. I couldn’t do everything when I was a child, but I want him to do things I couldn’t do. While I want him to be the best, I don’t want him to be a liar, to be rude, to be a bad man. I want him to be educated and wealthy enough to lead a good life. I know he has to be strong, withstand difficulties and be honest with people.