Wednesday, September 14, 2011

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.

7 comments:

  1. I have to confess that I used to have that fear. . .until I decided to just do it. Now, the first time I went away (when there was only 1 little one), I came home some 36 hours later to a very messy house, a very tired daddy and an ecstatic little boy. Probably mostly b/c Daddy let him do most anything he wanted and didn't make him clean up, but still.

    And last spring when I went away from Friday noon until Sunday afternoon, I returned to a spotless house (altho' the kitchen floor was oddly sticky), a sleeping preschooler, a tired daddy and an ecstatic 2nd grader.

    Everyone gets a little nervous about the IDEA of Mom being gone, but everyone has a lovely time -- even if Dad doesn't get as much sleep as he'd like -- and we're all the better for it.

    If I was within driving distance, I'd join y'all!

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  2. "If your kids are that difficult you need to give your wife a day away anyway." Great argument!

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  3. I am so very thankful that my husband is like yours. He loves the Daddy time he gets with them and loves to give me opportunities to be away! Also, thanks for organizing this day, I am so looking forward to it!

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  4. A big annoyance for me is when a mom says that their husband, the dad, is BABYSITTING the kids...or if the dad says he is BABYSITTING. Dads don't babysit their own kids. They father them.

    Also...I love this line..."reasonably priced baubles." :)

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  5. Denise6:30 AM

    You make me laugh! Your husband got his confidence from sitting at the Williams house going through those parenting classes mnay years ago! :) After reading your blog this morning, I think I will just meander down to the nearest CFA...a mile or so....and eat lunch and think of you.

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  6. A to the MEN! :) hehe.. no pun intended...

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  7. I didn't know there was a CFA as close as Ft. Wayne! We ate there for the first time in Feb when we went to Florida. It's now Alyssa's favorite fast food restaurant and she still laments that we don't have them in Michigan. I might have to take a road trip with her...

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