Dear Husband, I am thankful for you

Many of my friends on facebook decided to share something they were thankful for every day during the month of November until Thanksgiving Day. I missed a few days there at the end, but today I am feeling extra thankful for my husband, Robbie.

Let me tell you about my sweetheart. First off, the first thought that would pop out of his mouth if I started telling him this would be, "Me???" That's one out of a thousand reasons why I love him. He is so modest and never has the attitude that I should love him. Does that make sense? He does so much for me and our little family, but he never has the attitude that I owe him my love or that I owe him anything really.

I met Robbie in high school and the first time I saw him, I knew he was sweet on another girl that was sitting across from me at the cafeteria table. I could tell he was flirting with her and I could tell he really liked her. I could also tell he was kind of a dork, so I thought, "Man, I feel sorry for that girl cuz he likes her so much." Little did I know his silly charm would win me over a few years down the road.

Fast forward a few years and we finally get married. I don't want to go into all the details of the nine years we dated before we got married. That is a story for many other days.

Back to the present. Today I am feeling especially grateful that I have the privilege of being a stay at home mom. My husband works hard and we make sacrifices so that I can be the one who takes care of our little girl. I have never ever ever ever heard my husband complain about being the one to go to work every day while I get to stay home. He has never given me the impression that he resents me. In fact, he supports it, and he wants this lifestyle just as much, if not more than I do. He would consider it a personal failure if I had to get a job to help support our family. Not that I want him to feel like a failure for something like that, but I truly consider it a blessing to have a husband that is not only willing to provide for his family, but truly wants to be the one to provide. I have heard of husbands that refuse to work. This is NOT my husband.

Sometimes he tells me that he doesn't enjoy his job, but he never complains about work. He is a man that is not afraid to work, and work hard, for his family. He is a man that will do whatever it takes to provide for us, and I am truly thankful for him.

My husband loves being a daddy. He is in love with our little girl, and it melts my heart to see how much he adores her. I am thankful that I married a man that takes his role as husband, provider, and father to heart. I am thankful that he saw something in me that I couldn't see. When we were in high school and college, I would speak of becoming a mother, and especially a stay at home mom, with disdain and resentment. I resented the fact that we had decided that's how our family would operate. I hated the thought of becoming a mother. I thought, "What would I do?" I am thankful that my husband, then boyfriend, knew that those thoughts were nonsense and was willing to take a chance on me anyway. Now that I am a mother, and especially a stay at home mom, I wouldn't want it any other way. I wouldn't want to have to work a full time job and not see my little girl as much as I do. I teach flute lessons for about five hours a week, two of which she spends with a family from church, and I miss her so much it hurts. I love her.

I will admit that I am thankful to be able to teach flute lessons and to pursue a doula career. I am thankful to have something of my own, something to pursue that is separate from motherhood and...wife-hood? Is that a word? And I am so thankful that my husband supports, encourages, and sometimes even pushes me to work for my dreams. Even when my dreams change from year to year.

I am thankful for my husband for so many reasons other than the fact that he supports me in being a stay at home mom, but this is what is on my mind today. I was able to start my day exactly the way I wanted, I was able to eat, go to the store, shower, and do dishes exactly when I wanted to. I was able to play with a cute baby today. Unless your job is a babysitter or working at a daycare, who gets to play with cute little babies while they are at work? Now my sweetheart is waking up from her luxurious three hour nap and I get to go cuddle and kiss her, and I get to be the first one she sees after waking up, because I have the best husband in the world!!!

I love you, Robbie. :o)