It's Not All About Mom

I make Matt breakfast every morning and we share our thoughts over Coco Pebbles and a cup of coffee. I am the first to hear about his day at school when he walks through our front door. I'm around when his friends are over; making snacks and passing out drinks. I watch him at his sports' practices. It is not difficult for me to miss these moments, but for Steve it is. With school meetings, high school sports games and his own summer classes starting, I know guilt creeps in at times when he's not able to be so available. It's not easy to drop his responsibilities and attend everything. So when the opportunity came to go to the high school girl's softball regionals in Elkhart and then visit a friend of Steve's who lives right off of St. Joseph's River to eat and fish, I almost jumped at the chance for our whole family to go. Instead I thought:

What a perfect opportunity for Steve and Matt to bond. Alone. Together.

I am a firm believer that the relationship between a father and son is important. It's precious. You don't have to train a son to look up to his daddy. It's natural. They can chat about things that maybe a mom wouldn't understand. Trust me, Matt is at the age where some things are a bit embarrassing to expose to lame old Mommy. But bring Dad in and he's open and willing. So that day was their day and it was fun. Matt hasn't stopped talking about the five fish he caught -- with his dad.

As for Mark and I, we made our own day of fun. We blew bubbles in the front yard. Ate whatever we wanted for lunch and dinner. We snuggled on the couch while watching TV and during commercial breaks we made funny faces at one another. I guess everyone's day turned out to be a special one.