An Open Letter to the Father of My Children

Today is not Father’s Day, or Parents’ Day, either. It’s just a regular day. But I really want to take the time to recognize everything you do for our children. It was clear from the start, when our first child was just a zygote, that you would be my wingman in all things parenting. From that very first day we found out I was pregnant, we shared in the awe and excitement of creating a human together, and your caring and dedication to our children continues to shine through in all of the little things you do every day.

Thanks for being open-minded. You’re not perfect (who is?), but you’re always willing to learn when it comes to moulding our offspring into better human beings (we can only try our hardest, right?) You take your job as father seriously, and when I tell you about a new parenting tactic we should put into action, you are always supportive (albeit a little skeptical at times).

Thanks for having my back. Whether you’re attending another meeting to help raise funds for our school’s capital campaign, driving the kids to school on the way to work (I don’t want to know about the donuts you did in the snowy parking lot), or pushing me to make plans with my girlfriends when I seem burnt out, you are truly dedicated to taking care of me and our kids.

Thanks for non-stop laughs. You have taught our kids to laugh a lot and see the fun in everything. Your crazy Jim Carrey impersonations have us in stitches most of the time, while we shake our heads in disbelief the rest. Our son has a great sense of humour and our daughter is one of the biggest goofs around. I hope they will always be so comfortable in their own skins and able to laugh at themselves when the going gets tough.

Thanks for keeping with tradition. Your strong sense of family values and tradition is so perfectly aligned with my own and I love that we have created some of our very own traditions over the years. Even though it’s getting harder every year to find a Christmas tree in the wild, we never give up. And that time we came close to doing so out of sheer frustration, our daughter firmly reminded us of our yearly ritual and how we had to push on.

Thanks for your strong work ethic. Without it, I would not have been able to leave my job to stay home with our babies; our family would not have been so well-fed when I was too tired to make a proper meal; and our house would be a lot messier without your help keeping it tidy. Thanks for teaching our kids responsibility through chores, encouraging family bonding through recreation in the great outdoors, and showing them that hard work is worth the effort.

So even though today is just a regular day, you are definitely not just a regular dad. Thanks for being such a great role model for our kids. xo