I've Discovered a New Phenomena

Okay, so I was a bit nostalgic yesterday. While planning Georgia's birthday party, I got to thinking about the "good old days" where birthday parties required little more than a home-made cake with no candles (for some reason, my mom never had candles) and hot dogs on the grill -- just family hanging out. A warm and fuzzy picture, right?

Well, today I noticed an even warmer and fuzzier phenomena. Something I never had, but I'm glad my children do. Something I'm sure even most of my friends never had -- an involved daddy. At my daughter's party today, there were just as many dads there playing with their children in the backyard. It was so cute watching the kids play soccer and climb on the jungle gym with their daddies. They looked like the subjects of a Norman Rockwell painting. It was great, and it made me happy for my children.

While they may miss out on the closeness of a big extended family, they will never miss out on time with their dad. Even though my birthday parties and dance recitals were full of my big extended family, my dad was often absent. I don't exactly know why; he just wasn't there. At times it was because he didn't want to spend the afternoon with "so and so." Other excuses included, "you know how your dad is" and "he has to watch the ballgame." I didn't really miss him at the time, but our relationship definitely suffered. It wasn't until my sister passed away that I was able to sit in the same room with him. I'll save the rest for therapy, but just know that I'm glad my kids will find a loving father the "norm" and not just something they experience after a tragedy.

Don't get me wrong, my husband is not Superdad. In fact, the phenomena is not my husband but the paradigm shift that's occurred with parenting in this era. Most of the kids at the party have extremely involved fathers. One little boy was with his dad only, and another was with both parents but preferred playing with his dad. The great part about it was that it was natural. They didn't play like it was the first time they'd been alone with daddy because it wasn't. When it occurred to me, I got a lump in my throat. They are so lucky!