Sunday, June 21, 2009

10 Things I Love About The Father You Are

10. The pride in your voice when you tell the story of how you were the first person ever to feed your firstborn son, Smoochie.

9. Working hard at a job that often tries your patience and your verbal filtering capabilities in order to clothe, feed, and to provide electricity and soccer team fees for your children.

8. The way you do your nutrition research and make sure our boys eat and drink the things now that will not hurt them in the long run.

7. Your splinter removal expertise. Complete with an entire splinter removal kit and a gentle touch that apparently Mom is not capable of. (Smoochie's school playground was ginormous and made entirely of wood)

6. The way you work with me instead of against me in the discipline department in order to provide a united front to the boys.

5. The way you kiss the boys when buckling them into the car.

4. How you remember what it was like to be a young boy and clue me in on things I would otherwise never understand- like how the word 'butt' is super funny at age 3, even if the word that was actually used was the word 'but'.

3. The way you try to share yourself and your interests with our children, from taking Smoochie to hang out at the local bike shop and rides to the local comic book store to spinning your bike wheels for Critter's enjoyment as you walk your bike by him and point out the names of the different bike parts.

2. The many months of panic attacks you had before the arrival of each of our sons.

1. The way you sneak into your boys' rooms to kiss them, breathe them in, and whisper words of love and encouragement to them in their sleep.

Happy Father's Day, John. I know I razz you about things like being a giant pillow thief (because you ARE) and putting the fear of spider in me before 6am, but it's all in good fun.

You're a great Dad and your deep love for your children shows through your commitment to blend all of the best things into their childhoods: family identity, discipline when needed, health and exercise, love, creativity, spontaneity, and a generous dose of humor. I love you.


2 comments:

Mom said...

How sweet is that!

for a different kind of girl said...

What a great list...love the opportunities he takes to steal kisses! Hope he had a fantastic Father's Day!