A Dad’s Perspective
I got to put my little boy to bed last night. On my own. On a typical night, he’s a generally affable little guy, usually quite happy to read some books, pray with dad, chill with mom, and go to sleep. Until now, there have been maybe four or five times where we’ve taken mom out of the equation, meeting with relative success.
Notice… until now.
Last night, my darling wife went off to a women’s meeting at church, where I’m sure they go over the ten steps to successful mommydom or something. (10 steps, not 12. Let’s keep the salacious gossip to a minimum!) Luke and I stayed home. He was pretty upset when she left, but got over it with the help of a gigantic purple dinosaur.
Yes, I dressed up.
That was a lie.
Hehe. Anyway, when bed time rolled around, we did as much “normal” as we could. The meltdown began when I mentioned mommy in our prayer. Luke recognized the name and was suddenly insistent that he find out where she was. He apparently didn’t understand my explanation that she was gone, would be back later, and would see him in the morning.
The wailing that ensued was heartbreaking. Thankfully it was also short-lived. He went to sleep in under three minutes. But in those three minutes, he made it clear that, as parents go, right now, Mom is the “it” parent. I’m Steven Seagall to her Kate Winslet. I’m the New Kids on the Block to her Owl City. I’m… you get the picture.
And that’s okay. It’s great, in fact. It’s a wonderful thing for a little boy to love his mommy and to develop attachments that are good, healthy, and all that jazz. My turn is coming (in fact, we did have a meltdown one day as I went to my office… in the house… so, I’m on my way!) It’s interesting to get to observe all this first hand instead of learning from Everyone Loves Raymond. I love being a Dad!
What a sweet story. You are a great dad!