What I’ve Learned About Parenting From My Husband

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I recently read this Huffington blog post and it made me reflect on how much my husband has taught me about being a parent, especially since we will be adding a new addition to our family in December. Since Father’s Day is just around the corner, I thought it would be appropriate to express my appreciation for how he has made me a better mom.

This fall, my husband and I will celebrate 10 years of being an “us” and I always knew that I wanted him to be the father of my children. He is so different than me in so many aspects, which is why I love him so much. We balance each other out so well as parents. We work together as a team. There is nobody else that I’d rather have by my side in this adventure called parenthood.

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My husband has taught me to have patience. My husband was great at soothing our daughter when she was a colicky newborn because he had the patience to pace the floors for hours while she was crying. I used to get frustrated easily, and still do sometimes, but I’m always aware of it now. He taught me that there is no benefit to losing my patience, since it’s not going to help the current situation at all. The second you lose patience is the second that you lose control. He has taught me that patience truly is a virtue.

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My husband has taught me that accidents are going to happen. There is not much you can do to prevent them – that’s why they are called accidents. For example, we were playing in the kitchen, having a wonderful family moment, and my daughter tripped {mid-laughter} and chipped her two front teeth. If you have ever had a child get a mouth injury, then you know that it bleeds {a lot}. It freaked me out and I started thinking that her teeth would be permanently damaged, and it all happened on my watch because we were having fun! My husband calmed both my daughter and myself down, all while cleaning her mouth and assessing the damage. He has taught me that she is going to get hurt sometimes and I can’t blame myself for it, especially if I couldn’t have done anything to prevent it. He has taught me to stay calm {as I possibly can} and that being upset isn’t going to help {it will probably only make it worse}.

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My husband has taught me how to slow down, relax more and worry less. There are so many things that happen when you have kids that you can’t control. He taught me that it especially doesn’t help to worry about things that haven’t happened yet. I now realize that you can’t plan for everything, and sometimes, the unplanned things turn out to be the best things.

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Photo Credit: C Photography

My husband has taught me that there is always time for playing and silliness. My husband has a natural way with kids. Before I had my daughter, I didn’t really have a lot of exposure to children. I’m an only child, our friends didn’t have kids, and we have a small family that doesn’t have a lot of little kids. I was very nervous. Of course now that I have my daughter, I know that was irrational, because when they are your own, you know exactly what to do and it comes naturally. But my husband is still more fun than I am – and I’m learning from him. At any given moment, you can find him making my daughter laugh, tossing her over his shoulder for a piggyback ride or doing laps around our basement holding her hand while she pushes her baby doll around in a stroller.

What has your husband taught you about parenting?

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