With Mother's Day come and gone, it's easy to toot my own horn and see myself as a shining pillar of womanhood and motherly goodness. Because, I mean, come on. Mamas are fabulous.
But having now made it more than 3/4 of the way through my box of See's, I feel like there's something I've definitely failed to do as a mama and as a wife after celebrating all that is good about mothers.
And that is to celebrate and thank my husband and the father of my babes.
As a SAHM, I fish for compliments all the time from my man. I'm always looking for little reassurances that what I do at home is important and impactful and impressive. But the truth is, I don't think that my husband has ever once fished for a compliment for spending the whole day at work.
So many times I have sat down to dinner and thought, "I hope he says this is the best meal he has ever had," or upon entering the kitchen with him, "If he doesn't notice that I mopped, I will lose it."
But he would never think like that.
If he did, I'm sure he would be thinking something along the lines of, "I wonder if she'll ask about how stressful my day was considering we had a 5 p.m. deadline," or "Did she even remember that I had that important meeting today?" But of course he doesn't think those things. He simply does them because he works hard and gets his job done. Whether I acknowledge it or not.
My man is just that--he is a true, kind, and selfless man. He gets up in the morning with me (sometimes) still in bed, he gives me a kiss and tells me to have a great day. Then he goes to work and gets the job done. But when he comes home is when I realize he is truly a hero.
And the truth about this incredible man is that he comes home and gets right to work.
He plays with our son, he picks up after the disaster our experiment with playdoh mixed with legos left around the house, he goes outside to run around and tire out the little man while dinner gets finished, he helps to clean up afterward, and he is a beacon of fatherly patience when we struggle to brush teeth, bathe and put our son to bed.
The things that he gets done in just the few hours he does when he gets home most definitely are overlooked more often than my meal or my floors.
And he deserves more credit.
He deserves credit for working hard day in and day out to make it possible for me to stay home with our son and our babe on the way. He deserves more credit for being the voice of reason when I've just about lost my mind over another spilled sippy cup of juice. He deserves more credit for wanting to spend his weekends making fun family memories rather than stay in and veg on the couch. He deserves more credit for working hard day and night to make this life possible for our family.
Yes, I know that one day every year mothers get to be celebrated and appreciated and showered with love and gifts and extra sleep. But I think that the most important thing that I can do as a mama is to make sure that my kids understand how grateful I am for their dad.