Unexpected

When I was thinking about having a family and then adding to that family, I had many visions of how life would be.  Most of them, granted, were wrong.  In some cases exceptionally wrong!  At the centre of my past visions was who I would be as a mum, how my kids would react to me, tasks I would do and so on.  For some reason in my imaginings it was always sunny, tidy and involved no activities that would ultimately require laundry to be done; we’ve all been there.

What I didn’t visualise was the other grown-up half of this partnership and how he would be as a family man.  For both of us the process has been an evolution and I have enjoyed watching Stephen grow into his role as a parent,  just as I’ve grown into mine.  Working together as our family has grown, I’m often awestruck by what a naturally great dad he is.  I constantly rely on his clear thinking and the straightforward wisdom in his approach, especially when I’m tied up in knots!  His compassion and creativity seem endless as does his patience with the kids and with me….

As someone said to me today, we aren’t raising girls and boys we are raising future men and women.  I know there are many things of value that I can pass along to my men-in-the-making, but ultimately it will be their dad who they will want to emulate.  He’ll be the one teaching them so many of the skills they will need for their future lives, some consciously and some through a process of osmosis that won’t come to light until that lesson is needed.

So, just in time for Father’s day (though my little homage was in response to circumstance rather than the date!), here are some pics of my lovely chap and our lovely chaps in the making.  What a great role model they have.