Yesterday I was reminded again of something I really appreciate about my husband and I felt compelled to write about it.

He had decided he was going to clean out the inside of the car after dinner and he took Avery outside with him to “help”. She is in the glory of full-blown toddlerhood, wanting to do things for herself and to try everything that we do. While this is a great stage and an important one, I find it really frustrating at times because I can be such a perfectionist and I know that I can do it faster and better on my own and I often don’t have the patience to do a task slower so that my little girl can “help” me.

This is to my shame because when I have taken time to let her try the things that I do I am rewarded with seeing her develop a sense of self and feeling proud of her ability to do grown-up things. My husband, on the other hand, often goes out of his way to let Avery “help” him and yesterday was no exception. He seems unperturbed by the fact that she often makes more work for him and just delights in letting her try things, even when they are clearly not activities she will be able to master yet. But the result of this patience is that Avery knows that her daddy believes in her and she is learning the importance of working hard and taking pride in a job well done. Most importantly, he is spending time with her and that is doing more for her and speaking more into her little life than all the things we could buy her in this world.

I frequently think to myself “Gee, I’m married to a really great guy” and just as often I think “I should tell him how much I appreciated….” and of course, I rarely follow through. These things are easy to forget about and there are so many other important (and totally insignificant but time consuming) things happening in life. But really, sometimes you just need to brag a little. So here it is: My husband is a spectacular father. I know he’ll do just as well with number two, arriving in just four weeks!