This Father’s Day is a little extra special for Sass as this is the first time I am celebrating my husband as a father. I am fortunate enough to have had amazing examples of what a wonderful father is throughout my entire life but how I relate to what it means to be a father has taken on a different meaning now as a mother rather than simply a daughter.
Being a great father is all of the things everyone always says – father’s should be attentive, nurturing, loving, supportive, moral, etc etc, however, this father’s day I am going to go ahead and say that being a great father starts with being a great husband. Now, being a great husband is going to mean different things to different people but I’m going to share my 5 and a ½ months experience on this and how I came to believe it.
During the first few months of parenthood it is pretty easy to do right by your kid. I’m not saying that by any means it has been easy being a new parent but basically as long as she is fed, rested, burped, changed, and bathed she’s pretty happy and healthy. When you think of it as simply as that, as long as those things are happening you are a great parent.
Now in my house I generally do more of the feeding, burping, changing, and bathing because that is how we have it set up and what we have agreed upon. My husband definitely does a fair share of the duties but considering I am with her all day and most of the night before he gets home from work, one of the best ways he can be a great parent to her is by making sure that I am fed, rested, bathed, perhaps not burped and changed, but you get the picture!
When you become a mom your needs become secondary and I can’t tell you how wonderful it is when my husband responds to my needs when I am unable to do so for myself. Especially really early on when I was breastfeeding around the clock, my body was recovering, and I was extremely sleep deprived. There is no time to breathe, eat, bathe, or make a phone call let alone care about what’s for dinner! He was so great about stepping in when I couldn’t hold my head up, when I was breaking down in overwhelmed tears, and about ordering me to eat even when I didn’t have the energy to. Nowadays, he gives me time to see when my friends when possible or take a few hours to run errands….by myself 🙂
I’ve come to learn that being a great father can mean knowing when to not start a fight with mama! It’s giving mama a break when she needs it, sending her to get her nails done, or making dinner. Being a great father is letting mom off the hook when he’s out of clean socks or when our routine doesn’t go as planned. My husband is a great father to our baby girl and I am happy to say that that is in part because he is a great husband to me.
I wanted to give him a few things to let him know how great of a job he’s doing taking care of his girls! My husband speaks Spanish fluently and we definitely want our daughter to learn so I found a really cool website that makes personalized books in Spanish. The site adds in his picture and all three of our names to the pages of a story about a little girl and her daddy. It’s too cute and he can’t wait to read it to her! (The books can also be personalized in English!)
Knowing that we would be traveling to see my husband’s two brothers and many cousins this weekend, I thought a game would be perfect! These guys play more games when they get together than the kids do! They are so competitive but always have a great time. I picked up Bean Bag Bucketz from Dick’s Sporting Goods. There are four ways to play this game but I am certain that no matter how they play it will turn into a drinking game LOL. I’ll post some videos to our stories of them in action!
My husband LIVES in tech shirts! He lounges in them, works out in them, cooks in them, and even goes out in them on occasion. They are the perfect shirt for him because he is a pretty big guy and these allow him to move and be active without any restraint! The material is perfect! I picked up a couple of new Under Armour Tech Shirts from Dick’s Sporting Goods – they are even on sale right now!
And lastly, my husband loves his Qalo ring but lost it and needed another one! If your husband resists wearing a ring because it’s uncomfortable or because his type of work makes it dangerous or annoying to have metal on his finger YOU NEED A QALO. What is it? It is a silicon wedding band, as seen on Steph Curry, Sam Hung, Bryce Harper, and many others! They are very functional, my husband can barely feel that it’s on! We call it his “work ring” because I still like him to wear his nice wedding band for special occasions or a Saturday night out (because those have become special occasions too)! There are many color and personalization options that you are sure to find something he likes, you can even create your own! And the best part is, when he leaves it at the gym, it’s only $20-30 to replace! Woo!
So keep some of these gift ideas in mind for next year or for his birthday and we hope all of the dads have a wonderful Father’s Day today!
Sass and Sweetness 