Sometimes I think dads get a bad rap. After all, they are just a bunch of couch-loving, tech-crazed, incompetent, glorified babysitters that we put up with on a day-to-day basis, right? Thankfully, most dads I know don’t fall into a single one of those categories. But when moms gather and talk, we do tend to get a little crazy with “dad bashing” because usually it gets a laugh and a sympathetic nod of how hard we all have it as moms. “Can you believe what he sent my poor child to daycare dressed in??”
My husband and I just came back from a great vacation at the beach and on the way home, I thanked him for being so willing to take our oldest and play with him in the water, sand, pool–basically be our son’s ragdoll for whatever the day entailed. He said something that completely threw me for a loop, “I appreciate that. You don’t always give me credit for all the things I do with him.” My immediate reaction was to get defensive and come back with a list of ways that I DO thank him and appreciate him. But then it hit me. If he doesn’t feel like I appreciate him, then that’s all that matters. And I need to fix it.
This post isn’t going to give you a list of 5 ways to appreciate the man in your life or give you a cute printable to tape on his mirror. Instead I just want to take some time to thank those men in our lives who go above and beyond the call of dad duty. The dads who are true helpmates to their spouses and desire to make the household one that’s full of love and laughter. Dads who spend HOURS outside with their kids because they love throwing the ball or riding their bike. Dads who channel their inner child during a game of superheroes or swordplay. Dads who sing to their little ones before bed because it comforts them to sit in a safe place and lean into their protector. Dads who sneak a kiss from their wife while the kids are eating just to remind her that he still sees her and she still gives him heart eyes. Dads who are there to teach their kids tough lessons through discipline and words. And all the dads who have learned to embrace the chaos and whole-hardheartedly step up to the plate of fatherhood. THANK YOU!
Take some time to sit back and think of the ways you love seeing your husband shine in his dad role, and then TELL HIM. Voice it to him. Look him in the eyes and thank him for all that he does and apologize for not doing it more often. Don’t let a day go by that your spouse doesn’t know how grateful you are to have his helping hands and mutual love only a pair of parents can have for these children that test us beyond our limits, laugh at our sleep deprivation, and publicly embarrass us on a continual basis. Ahh parenthood. I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.
