How could I not write about one of the most amazing men in my life on this, a day that is set aside especially to celebrate him? My husband is a wonderful father. He is an absolute blessing not only in my life, but definitely in the life of Rusty. Rusty and his daddy are best friends. They laugh together, jump on the bed together, play ball together, go to the park and do all of the wonderful things a dad and son should do.
Today we went to church and were reminded of how important it is for a child to have a strong father figure in his life. Not that children can't have great lives without fathers, but those that are blessed to have a wonderful father that is involved in their lives are blessed indeed. Rusty is truly blessed to be in that category. Not only does he have a dad that happens to be around, but Kevin is a dad that Rusty can look up to, want to imitate, and trust.
I remember sitting in church on the Father's Day before Rusty was born. The pastor was talking about what kind of a dad a man of God should be...I just knew that Kevin was going to meet all of those expectations. Not only has he met them, but he far exceeds them.
Kevin prays for Rusty. He always prays for Rusty to know and love God, and that first and foremost Rusty's life will be one of service to God. He also constantly models what it means to be a man that loves and serves God.
He plays with Rusty. It's such a tradition. He comes home from work and when Rusty sees his daddy driving up in the car he starts jumping up and down and yelling "Daddy! Daddy!" He knows that his buddy is home. Right away they are either in the backyard playing, off to the park to play, or sitting in the hallway throwing the ball if it is a rainy day. Kevin always comes home and shows Rusty exactly how much more important he is than all of the other things that he could do. I remember when Kevin used to come home from work. After we would kiss and hug hello, he would usually sit on the couch, watch a little tv, or surf the Internet. It was his downtime. I remember in our baby class when we were learning about how life with a kid would be an adjustment and we would have to give things up thinking that was one of the things Kev would probably miss. I don't think he misses it at all. The squeals of laughter that I hear coming from our little boy are much better than an hour on the couch watching TV or surfing the net.
Kevin is consistent. One of the best gifts that he gives to Rusty is that he is consistent with him, and so patient, day in and day out. He disciplines in love and kindness, and Rusty is a better boy because of it. Kevin's intuition for parenting is amazing to me, and I appreciate his support and the fact that we are always a team. Being a mom is hard work, but it would be so much more difficult without this amazing man standing beside me. Rusty knows what to expect from his dad and from us as his parents. Much of that has come from Kevin. I think it's funny, so many moms think that they know it all and that they know so much more than their husbands when it comes to being a parent. Sometimes I feel like the exact opposite...Kevin knows so much more than me, and I learn so much about being a parent from him. This afternoon we were at the mall picking up a present for a friend's baby and I was waiting in line at the children's store. A mom was waiting for her husband to bring something up to the register and when he got there she said, "HuFF! He doesn't know anything about dressing her." I don't know if the man did or didn't, or what kind of a support he is or is not to his wife, but I do know that Kevin is a great dad in this area. He knows everything about Rusty's schedule just as well as I do. Feeding him, changing him, whatever needs to be done, from the start Kevin has always been there making sure he knew exactly what was going on so he could be as supportive to me as possible. I have never felt alone in parenting Rusty, that's certain!
This man is so giving. He wakes up with Rusty almost every, single day. When our little alarm clock lets his voice be known around 7 a.m., it is not me who rolls out of bed, in fact, I roll back over as Kevin hands me earplugs, ordering, "Put these in!" He then gets up and starts his morning routine with the monkey. They have some breakfast together, maybe watch a little Dora-or right now some Fifa World Cup Soccer! Rusty even yells GOAL!-and they just play together until I finally roll out of bed sometime after 8. Yep, I get to stay in bed until 8 almost every single day...even on Saturdays! Part of my gift to him today was that I was the one that got up with Rusty instead of him. He was so happy to sleep in until 8:20 a.m. When our youth pastor was talking to us at church he laughed when he heard that sleeping in was 8:20, but such is life with a child and you know what? We don't really mind!
Rusty seems to be turning into a little bit of a Daddy clone. He even has his facial expressions and so many of his actions. I can't think of a better person for him to imitate. Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband, who is a precious, special daddy to his son.
Happy Father's day to your awesome husband!
ReplyDeleteIt makes me a little sad when I see that other daddy's don't know as much about their child/children as their wives. I'm glad Kevin is just as involved as you are. Jason knows everything about RJ as well.