Dear Ryan,
Remember that article that used photographs of wonderful fathers to blast apart that age-old but annoying convention that dads are incompetent co-parenters?
Well, I went and made my own version FOR YOU.
1. DADS NEVER TAKE TIME AWAY FROM THEIR BUSY SCHEDULES TO DO ANYTHING FUN WITH THEIR KIDS.
2. DADS AREN’T ANY GOOD AT TAKING CARE OF GIRLS.
3. DADS NEVER TAKE THEIR KIDS ANYWHERE COOL.
2009-2010: Japan, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Nepal, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji
2012-2014: Iceland, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, France, Scotland, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Morocco…
4. DADS DON’T BOTHER TEACHING THEIR KIDS ANYTHING.
5. EVERYONE WOULD PROBABLY GO HUNGRY IF DINNER WAS LEFT UP TO DAD.
Disclaimer: You did not technically prepare this meal, nor did our kids eat it (I did!). But if you were to make dinner, it surely would include your favorite food group…ice cream.
6. DADS DON’T HAVE A CLUE AS TO WHAT MOMS REALLY WANT.
That is a sweet, sweet broom you have there, sir.
7. DADS CAN’T WATCH THE KIDS AS WELL AS MOMS CAN.
8. DADS AREN’T PATIENT BY NATURE.
9. DADS ARE NEVER AROUND TO OFFER A PICK-ME-UP WHEN YOU NEED ONE.
10. EVERYONE KNOWS THAT DADS CAN’T MULTITASK.
11. DADS DON’T KNOW HOW TO LOOK AFTER A BABY, AND THEY CERTAINLY CAN’T HEAR THEM CRY AT NIGHT.
12. DADS DON’T BOTHER WITH GETTING THE GROCERIES.
13. DADS ONLY KNOW HOW TO PLAY ROUGH.
Disclaimer: No toddlers were launched into the Atlantic Ocean at the time this photo was taken.
14. A DAD’S LOVE IS ONLY SECOND-BEST; CHILDREN DON’T REALLY NEED THEIR FATHERS.
This date marks nearly 22 months we have been full-time on the road, and it also marks the nearly eight years I have been full-time, full-on head-over-heels in love with you.
I tried to think of every sad and ridiculous public misconception people have pegged on dads just so you could see how these photos paint a pretty clear picture of how you simply do not fit in those boxes. If we’re being perfectly honest here, I believe you absolutely obliterate these clichés.
Despite the wide range of happy memories that appear here, there were still so many little things that didn’t make it in…how hard you work for us, how much you invest in each of our happiness, how you give of yourself equally to those you love and those you hardly know, how you brilliantly implement the steps to make any dream a reality, how you love the three of us unconditionally and to no end.
So I hope you got a chuckle out of this, but I also hope you see just how much we love you. Because we do, unconditionally and to no end.
Happy Father’s Day, my Love. And Happy Father’s Day to ALL the dads out there who put in the love, time and effort!