Now that Father’s Day is around the corner, I plan to write more about fathers. That’s right the guys are taking over! (Ok, not really. Maybe for a week or so.)
My 4-year-old, Abby, is in full swing. Just the other day, Abby was singing at the top of her lungs “I love my husband!”
Her 3-year-old friend, Margaret, turned to her and said, “You don’t have a husband.”
Abby replied, “Oh yes I do. My dad is our husband.”
I told Doug later that evening, and he replied, “At least I’m somebody’s hero.”
I almost corrected Abby and told her, “He’s my husband, not yours!” But I didn’t have the heart. These days, many children don’t have a father at home. According to Families and Living Arrangements, there were 12.9 million single parent families in 2006- 10.4 million single mother families and 2.5 single father families. I guess I wasn’t surprised about the single mothers. But I frankly didn’t realize there were so many single fathers. If the US Census Bureau is right, single fathers represent one out of six single-parent homes.
I can’t imagine the pressures of raising a child alone. I realize that Father’s Day isn’t a day of celebration for everyone. For some, it can be a painful reminder. For others, a memory of a loss. Or maybe it’s just another day.
For me, Father’s Day is a day of honor and celebration. (I’ll be sharing some lessons from my own father later this week.)
Today, I’m just thankful that Abby has both a mother and a “husband” who love her very much.
What does Father’s Day mean to you?
4 comments:
That is so cute. We just had that discussion at the dinner table lat night. Kids you can't marry your parents.
A bit bittersweet this year, celebrating my husband, the first year without a father.
~ Wendy
My father is the most amazing man I know (my husband is a close second ;-)..); Father's Day is my day to celebrate everything he is to me and my family. It also reminds me of the things I don't tell him often enough.
Father's Day means I had a dad who came as close to modeling our Heavenly Father as a human dad could. And I miss him. But I carry him with me in my heart, always.
And it also means I'm thankful for an awesome husband who has always been an incredible father, through all the ages and stages of my boys' lives.
My father is still with me, but it's been a tough year, and it's so hard to see him get older. Fathers make such an impact on our lives.
Post a Comment