Whats the biggest surprise about fatherhood?
Joe DeNichols, 31, is a design center director for a semiconductor electronics company. His daughter, Anna Marie, was born Oct. 20, 2006. How does fatherhood impact life as a high-tech worker? The biggest thing is, having a child turns me into the sole breadwinner, which is extremely different. That level of responsibility is new to me. As design-center director, the success or failure of the work determines how much money you make a year. It wasn’t that big a deal before, but now I’m starting to pay attention a bit more because the ramifications of success or failure are much greater now. I’m extremely focused. I don’t screw around at work anymore. Before, it would be, “Oh, if I want to work an extra hour tonight, OK.” Now I come in, and put my head down. I don’t chitchat anymore, I don’t check the news anymore. I work as hard as I can, put in nine or 10 hours, and then I want to go home and see my kid. I have never experienced absolute immediate unconditional love for someone like I
