Wednesday, January 17, 2007

The Importance of Daddy

Please welcome guest-poster, Leslie!

Leslie is a stay-at-home mom to Julia and much-loved wife of Dave. They live in Ohio. You can visit Leslie's blog at My
Mommy's Place
.



This morning at breakfast, I watched Julia and Dave eating together across the table from me. Julia was poking at her food, so Dave picked up some scrambled eggs on his fork and said, “Let’s eat it together!” Julia filled her fork with eggs and carefully watched her Daddy, timing her movement so they put their bites in their mouths at the exact same time. They smiled at each other and chewed their food. Julia ate most of her eggs, then Daddy began to show her how to cut her pancakes. Julia studied his demonstration intently, then tried it herself. Slowly and deliberately, she maneuvered her butter knife and fork, sawing gently back and forth. Dave kept up the encouragement, “You’re doing it! Alright. You did it!” Julia proudly picked up one of the pancacke pieces and offered it to her Daddy. He ate it right up and delcared, “Hmmm, that’s good.” She smiled.

I’m not sure I’ve seen two people enjoy each other as much as Julia and her Daddy. I am truly in awe of their relationship; it is extraordinary.

Julia and I have an exceptional relationship. I am a full-time mommy, so she spends about all of her time with me. I’ve had a front row seat in her life since she was born. I am so grateful to my husband for giving me that experience. He’s made a lot of sacrifices, including time away from us, so that Julia could have a stay-at-home mommy. Since I know Julia so well, I can say with confidence that her Daddy means more to her than just about anyone. And even though he doesn’t spend as much time with her as I do, their relationship is just as special to her. And I know she needs that relationship with him as much as she needs the one with me, because fathering is different than mothering. I think that’s why I am so fascinated with how they interact with each other.

Daddy is…Daddy. He wrestles around with her. They chase each other until one of them drops. He does “The Tickler,” which is such an effective tickling trick, she is bubbling with giggles before he even touches her. She climbs on his back for pony rides. They play ball. Their time together is almost always accompanied by screaming, laughing, stomping and banging. And when Julia dresses up like a ballerina and performs ballet, his approval is the only one that matters.

I watched them recently, playing with Julia’s stick horse. She watched and laughed as her Daddy moved the horse from side to side asking, “What am I?”

“What?”

“A horse fly!” He booms with laughter and Julia joins in.

I see how they fill each other up, and I understand the importance of Daddy in my little girl’s life. And I am thankful beyond words that they are part of mine.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for having me as a guest-poster. And thank you for the wonderful post you wrote for my site.

I love the blog swap idea! I hope we can do it again sometime.

Rissamama3 said...

Leslie,

that was wonderful.

GF thanks for introducing new blogs to me!!

Kelley said...

I'm trying to think of something to say, but it's hard to type over the deafening scream of my ovaries. Apparently, they are interested in a baby? Hard to say, they are so subtle with their demands. ;)

Leslie, you have the sweetest family. I hope I have one just like it one day. I've got the great husband, so I hope I'm on my way...

Anonymous said...

Beautiful beautiful post.
Sooo sweet.

Daddies and girls together are so special!!

Grimm said...

Just wanted to say thank you GF for swapping with Leslie for the day.

Your post as well as this one are both very meaningful to me as a father.

The Thinking Black Man said...

Great post LESLIE!

Dave sounds like a great Dad!

As the father of two sons, I can honestly say that the long days and/or hours away from the two of you are made both easier AND harder on him because of you and your daughter.

They are EASIER on him because the two of you are right there with him every second - in his heart. The two of you keep him strong and focused.

They are HARDER on him because his desire to be back home with you both makes the clock tick slower and slower and slower.

I swear, there have been times when I couldn't wait to get home to my wife and kids - and when I looked at the clock, it almost appeared to be ticking backwards!!!