Happy Father's Day

..... one week late.

So I let these thoughts spin around in my head all last Sunday, and I never took the time to get them down! Par for my course, I'm afraid.

Last Sunday morning we were getting three kids ready for 9am church. This is never an easy task. There is a lot of chaos and a lot of little details to take care of. Most of the details that get overlooked include eating breakfast, getting kids to brush teeth, and tying the bows on the backs of little girls dresses. Brandon (and Dwight) try so hard to help out. But there are so many jobs that only the Momma can do. For example, only the Momma can tie those bows. Daddy might try. But let's face it, he grew up in a house full of testosterone. It just looks a little like a double knot in a shoelace.

So on Sunday, Father's Day, Brandon tied Hailey's bow. And it brought on one of those flash flood tear reactions that is so common in our house when the Momma is pregnant. My marriage flashed before my eyes, and I was shocked to realize that the guy standing in my bedroom was NOT the guy I married 7 1/2 years ago. Sounds like something out of a scary movie, right? But it is so true. The man who currently sleeps in my bed and kisses me goodnight does not look or act like the skinny shy-guy I fell in love with. So here is the phenomenon that shocks me. I fell in love with that guy. Socially awkward. Extremely thin. Content to play video games without seeming to want a job or an education or any of those other things that society uses to define success. I was head over heels. Twitterpated, even. So someone explain to me why my current husband does not resemble that guy I fell so hard for, and yet I am even more in love with this new guy?!? How is that possible?

Anyhow, one of the major ways that I have watched Brandon change over time is his ability to relate to small kids... and females. So the fact that he is the father of two (soon to be four) small kids... who also happen to be female... was somewhat scary for me. He would try so hard to help out. He would try doing ponytails and matching outfits. (One of my favorite quotes was, "What do you mean those 5 things don't match... everything is pink?") I was always trying to find those careful ways to re-do the ponytail or change the outfit without hurting his tender feelings. I still laugh about the mental images I have of him awkwardly applying nail polish to little toes or sitting in agony while getting his hair styled. Or even him having to sit through an entire 30 minute ballet class. He has always been such a good sport. Always willing to do anything that a little blonde-haired, blue-eyed sweetheart would ask of him. And now I think of that silly little bow on Father's Day, tied more perfectly than Martha Stewart could have managed. And it just sort of sums up everything he has become, and everything this perfect Daddy has mastered.

I love you, Brandon Edward Hughes.