For Mother’s Day, a Tribute to Dad

I know what you are thinking when you read this title. Dads have their own freakin’ day. Don’t tread on my fresh Mother’s Day mani/pedi! Just hear me out for a moment..

I am not presuming to speak for every woman out there, especially not the moms who pull double duty as both mom and dad. In my opinion, when the do-it-herself momma’s kids turn twenty-one, they better march themselves straight to BevMo to buy her a CASE of the good stuff. I can only speak for myself when I say that, no matter how many memes there are hailing coffee and wine as the key to winning this motherhood thing, what really makes me better is having a really good dad by my side.

Sometimes motherhood can be a double edged sword. We get the blame if our kid is acting like a jerk. However, we also get heaped with praise when our kid does something great. All the while, society tends to act like the fathers of our kids are standing there holding our purses as we do the real work. If our kids have a great dad, we are considered rare and lucky. Lucky? Maybe. However, great fathers are not rare.

What I witnessed in one day:

1. Seven fathers picking up their children from school.

2. One father fixing his daughter’s ponytail at the park.

3. Four fathers rushing straight from work to coach our little league team.

4. One stay at home dad asking for advice on homeschooling

5. One father on social media admitting that he cried several times upon hearing his nonverbal son call him, “Dad.”

It is tough to admit, but without my son’s father, I would probably suck as a mom. I might still get that macaroni necklace, but it wouldn’t be so well earned. Sure, I see a lot of women rise to the occasion, and maybe I would. However, I hope that I never have to find out.

Could I have saved this post for Father’s Day? Perhaps. Why didn’t I? Because every year I do a search for cool stuff to do with my mom on Mother’s Day, and I always find a million things. I do a search for Father’s Day events and it is slim pickin’. It is an inequality that is pretty outdated. Does this make me feel guilty about sipping my mimosa this Sunday? Oh, hell no. I will just remember that, back at home, DarkSide Dad is throwing pop flies up into the air and making this whole mom thing possible.

So, on this Mother’s Day, I say thank you. Dads, stepdads, grandpas, weird uncles, and partners, you are not just supporting cast. You are the stars and directors as well. Here is hoping that, in a month’s time, you get some kick ass macaroni cuff links.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *