Days 165-166: Family Time

Today was a concerted effort on my part to make things fun for my family, specifically for Barney.  We got to sleep in, thanks to a late night last night with friends over.  Then, once we woke up, we headed into town for Saturday morning donut day (a long-standing tradition at our house).  We then took the kids to the downtown library, which George had been asking to do for some time.  Then, we headed to the botanic gardens to feed turtles and have a picnic.  All of those activities were more aimed at the children than at Barney, though of course he enjoyed himself too.

But then, we headed to Lowes to get Barney a riding lawn mower, which is his Father's Day, Anniversary, and possibly even Christmas present all rolled into one.  He is over-the-moon about it, which is funny, but true.  Then, we came straight home so that he could watch a big soccer game, and I retreated into our room to work and nap, leaving him just to get to enjoy the game.  Tonight, we have a babysitter and are going with other friends on a date night to a nice steakhouse downtown and to play games at our house later on after that.

I became aware just how much I have to appreciate about Barney when my friend who visited last night told me that her husband has not fed or gotten up with their five month old daughter in over four months, not even giving her one day to sleep in or one break from what is apparently a brutal feeding schedule (the baby is bottle fed for every meal, so that is not the issue).  Barney feels that things are somewhat different for that family because the husband is the only breadwinner in the family, and I get that, but for me, there is still something about parenting that requires more of a cooperative effort.  I am so grateful to have a husband who is a natural father who enjoys activities like this morning with the kids, is willing to feed, dress, bathe, discipline, and otherwise take care of our kids in whatever way is required, and not just the Saturday morning dad who plays with the kids from time to time but isn't overly invested in the day-to-day grind of parenting.