My son and me

I caught my wife rocking in place the other day—for no apparent reason. Often, I find myself habitually humming lullabies without realizing it. Everywhere I turn, there are receiving blankets. We now own more plush toys than I ever would have imagined.

Yes, we are new parents. And yes, we’re a little crazy. But so are most new mommies and daddies, I’ve learned.

Here are three reasons why:

1. We don’t know any better.

This is our first go at this thing called parenthood. So if you see us picking up our baby the first time he sniffles, cut us a little slack.

This is the same motivation that drives us to the dryer or exhaust fan at the smallest sign of a sob. We’re rookies; everything feels like an emergency. We’ll get over the drama, hopefully.

2. We’re sleep-deprived.

Our brains and bodies weren’t made to function in such conditions. Bizarre stuff can happen when you sleep in two-hour increments.

For example, the other night, I kept talking about our 13-year-old. Annoyed, wife finally shook me and said, “Jeff, we don’t have a 13 year-old!”

Frustrated, I huffed, “I MEANT our 13-month-old.” She shook her head as I dozed back to sleep.

Our son is 9 weeks old.

3. We love our children.

This is the real reason for our insanity: we love these little lives to pieces.

That’s why we go days without showering, why our biceps are humongous from rocking back and forth (even after we put the baby to bed), and why we continue to subject ourselves to this madness. We can’t help it.

So what if we’re a little crazy? Given the motivations, maybe that’s not such a bad thing after all.

Jeff Goins and his wife live just outside of Nashville with their son and dog. You can visit him online at his blog or on Twitter @jeffgoins.