You're the dad, right?

I recently heard there are some women at my church who have never eaten at Chick-fil-A. Oh my word. How can this be possible? I decided to rectify that situation by planning a day trip to Fort Wayne; there’s a CFA there as well as an outdoor shopping area that has a Charming Charlie, my favorite accessory store. Yummy chicken goodness and reasonably priced baubles and great friends – seriously, what a fabulous day!

I sent out an email* and asked people to RSVP so I could arrange transportation. And while I’ve heard from several friends who’ve given an enthusiastic, “Sign me up,” I’ve also heard from others who don’t think they can go because it’s a whole Saturday away from home and their husbands aren’t sure they can handle the kids without Mom around.

You might want to pause to let that sink in. I know I’m pausing. A lot. Because I really don’t want to cuss on my blog; my mom reads it, you know.

We are talking one day. Twelve hours. And if the kids are little, they’ll go to bed around 7, so it will only be ten hours. These dads aren’t sure they can take care of their children for ten hours by themselves?

I’m pausing again…

Dads, you can do this. It is one dadgum day. Your wives do it every day. Every. Day. Every day they feed those kids, love on those kids, clean up after those kids, feed them some more, clean up some more, feed them again, love some more and put them to bed. And not just any kids. YOUR kids.

If your kids are that difficult you need to give your wife a day away anyway.

I am so thankful for my husband who has never once said he couldn’t handle our children. He has given me the time and space to attend women’s retreats and girls’ nights out. Even when the kids were little he took excellent care of them all by himself. Because he’s their dad. And he took care of me by giving me a little breathing room. Because he is an amazing husband.

(A note to the moms: are you the reason your husband doesn't think he can handle the kids? You need to trust the man you made these babies with can take care of them for one day. Back off and let him do it. It won't necessarily be your way (a lesson I had to learn, too), but it will be fine and the kids will love their dad time.)

Dads, man up. Take a day to appreciate what your wife does every day. And tell your wife to tell me she’s coming on our road trip. We might even figure out how to bring back some Chick-fil-A for you.

*If you attend my church and would like to go, please shoot me an email and I’ll get you all the information. I don’t have everyone’s email address.