A Special Day

When Nathan and I started to date, you couldn't have found a more opposite couple. He hardly said a word in public and I, well, let's just say silences made me uncomfortable. I loved sports, especially hockey and football.  Nathan liked baseball.  He could drink a pot of coffee and I couldn't stand even a drop. When going out for supper, he would order the most exotic thing on the menu (even eating a whole fish head!!). Me? Just chicken please. Without the claws or head, thanks. Speaking of meats, I much preferred them on my plate and not moving. Nathan? He was drawn to animals of all kinds while they were alive.

Another big difference was in the area of kids. Kids were my life - the kids I babysat, the kids in my church, the kids I met on the street. Kids were everything - which is why I ended up at college getting my early childhood education.

As for Nathan .....I don't think he knew they existed. Kids? What's that? Huh? He never babysat, he never noticed them, he never clued into their presence.

That was 19 years ago.

While we are still opposite in many ways, including above mentioned, there is one thing that has changed drastically.

The change slowly started to happen over time, starting with the births of our nieces and nephews, as well as our friends having children. That is when the exposure started for Nathan.

However, while exposed to this phenomena of children, Nathan:

• had no idea what to do with kids and all that came with them.
• he would throw up watching our friends lick the spoon that was in their child's mouth;
• he could put his arm up a cow (his old job) yet couldn't be in the same room if a diaper was being changed
• in his mind, any child with a snot nose, goobers, sticky fingers, poopy diaper, or any of the like could not be anywhere near him

And yet, this man prevailed and came to see what fun these little packages bring to a life. And now I am privileged to witness this man, who couldn't keep his supper down due to particular smells that came from kids, be the most fantastic daddy to our children. I am in awe. What I see him do with Keziah and Lincoln, how I see him interact, play, love, and teach them, makes me a big mush for my husband every time I see him with our two blessings.

My heart feels with joy when I come home from church and find him at the table doing a craft, taking directions from his 'teacher' daughter:

He has the patience of Job, not minding at all that the kids are in there to help him put things together, even encouraging them to join in:

And he lets the kids do things that mom wouldn't normally allow.....like ride bikes in the house!

We just recently learned that while he is amazing as a father, he needs to work on his staring contest skills with Keziah, 'cause right now she has won every single time :o)

Yes, my children are blessed to call him 'father'.  And I am so blessed to witness him in this role.

The days leading up to it, we were busy making some things for him to hang in his office:

"My dad is 10 years old.
My dad loves to go on his motorcycle.
My dad's job is to work in the office.
He has black hair that's brownish and green eyes.
His favourite food is cottage cheese.
My dad is smart because he knows how to keep  me safe.
My favourite thing to do with my dad is snuggle."

We praise and thank God for Nathan, and pray that our Heavenly Father will continue to bless him in his role as earthly father. Keziah and Lincoln know without a doubt that their father loves them, because he spends time with them. And that is how kids spell love: T-I-M-E.

 

(Yes, he can now lick a spoon that was in his child's mouth, wipe a nose and get this - he has changed his fair share of dirty diapers!! However I do believe that out of all of us, he was the most thankful when Lincoln was trained back in the winter. While he changed a dirty diaper here and there, it never was easy on this grown man; there were lots of gagging sounds coming from the room, sniffing as his eyes were watering, and never enough wipes for him, always using half the wipes from the container. But he *did* it - something he thought he would never succumb to doing. Thank you, my love :o)