What a Gift!

     I am blessed beyond measure.  I am also lucky enough to have some awareness of that fact. One of my many many blessings is the gift of a good partnership in parenting.  From the moment Larger Child came in to this world, Beautiful Bald Husband changed.  It was as though Fatherhood shot through every fiber of his being the second that baby took his first breath.  It was visually apparent. It was all over his face. His posture changed, his voice changed. His eyes.... his eyes changed the most.

    From that day forth, I knew that without a shadow of a doubt, my son would ALWAYS have his Dad.  He would always have someone in this world, besides myself, who is on his team.  As the years have passed, this fact has just become more and more clear.  When discussions of bringing another child in this world occurred. Beautiful Bald Husband would often voice concerns that he didn't think he could love another child as much as his first. I understood that, I wondered the same thing about myself. BUT, when Smaller Child blessed our lives, again... I could SEE the change happen in his body.  It reminded me of the line in How the Grinch Stole Christmas..."the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day."

     It really was that way, I know because I felt it too.  One of the greatest lessons we learned with the appearance of Smaller Child was that the capacity for a parent to love is much much greater than we could ever imagine.  So, with that moment, again I knew Smaller Child would ALWAYS have his Dad, and would ALWAYS have two people on his team. 
     I cannot express the gift it is to have a partner in parenting that you can always count on. I know that I am lucky, I know that there are millions of other women out there that cannot say the same. My heart breaks for those mothers, and for those children.  I could not imagine what that would be like.  
     I never have to think twice about it. I know that he is there for those boys, for whatever they may need.  He has shown this over and over by the big things:   Swimming a half a block through flood water to get to us when our house flooded two years ago.  And the small things:  Killing the scorpion in the flower bed that is threatening to scare the child.  The exceptional things:  Driving all over God's creation to find THE Christmas gift. Or spending half the night Christmas Eve putting together a Christmas gift to set under the tree. The day to day:  Working two jobs, day in and day out, doing everything he can to provide a life for us.     As our boys get older, his role is going to change like mine will. As they grow older, and begin to explore this world, learn their life lessons, my role as Mamma may take a back seat to his role as Dad to teach them the lessons only a fellow man can teach.  I know now too, that in this capacity, he will flourish as well.  As hard as it is for me to let go and let him handle it, I know that he will do whatever he can to give those boys whatever they need.  He has proven that.  The hardest thing I have to do is to trust another with the well-being of my children, but in this case again I don't have to think twice!
    How lucky my boys are to have a dad like that! How lucky I am to have a partner like that! What a gift.