Fathers and Father’s Day

Father’s Day always sneaks up on me. Maybe it is because this year it is the weekend school lets out. I am not on my A game during big transition times, but here is Father’s Day again and I’ve done nothing for my father, husband or father-in-law.

It is completely unfair. I have three amazing fathers in my everyday life and I am so overwhelmed with my own chaos that I don’t have anything for any of them.

Fortunately, my kids are better at this than I am – or at least their teacher’s are.

My daughter called me into her room last night and asked me to close the door and not let Daddy in. I was kind of excited. I thought she had some girl talk secret to tell me. Maybe it was about a boy or bras or something. She said “I made a Father’s Day present for Daddy at school and it says ‘you’re the best dad hands down’ “. Then she cocked her head. “Do you know what that means? Is that I good thing?”

I smiled at her and explained the idiom and silently thanked the public school for remembering what I can’t seem to grasp.

I know that my husband and father and father-in-law don’t care very much about Father’s Day, but I still want them to know how lucky we are to have them around. They are all outstanding fathers and I can’t speak for my husband yet, but the other two are pretty amazing grandfathers as well.

I have been talking a lot about  P&G’s Thank You, Mom campaign, but P&G also wants to thank the dads.

I want to thank my dad for always being there and being a strong role model for me when I was growing up. His hard work provided me with a lot of advantages in life as well as a strong work ethic.

I want to thank my father-in-law for being an outstanding grandfather and support system for my whole family. He lives close by and even though he works crazy hours he always seems to be available if we need him. I want to thank him for being the role model that makes my husband such an incredible father.

And to my husband, I could not ask for a better father for my children. He works all day and then comes home and cooks dinner, and not just hot dogs, but these fabulous meals that look like they came from a restaurant. He does woodworking projects with the kids, he takes them camping, he will run around in the yard with them and play squirt guns.  He gave our babies their first baths when I was too scared that I would break them. He learned how to swaddle like a champ from the NICU nurses. He goes to all of the Cub Scout meetings and I am sure he would go to the Brownie meetings too if Claudia asked him.

I am a lucky woman.

Happy Father’s Day to the three fathers in my life and to all my readers that are dads.

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Disclaimer: I am being compensated for my work with Procter & Gamble but these words and these stories are my own. To pay tribute to your own dad, visit P&G’s Thank You, Mom Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/thankyoumom) and tell the world what makes him so special.