Whatta Man, whatta man, whatta man, whatta mighty good man....

fa·ther

  [fah-ther] 

noun

1.

a male parent.

2.

a father-in-law, stepfather, or adoptive father.

3.

any male ancestor, especially the founder of a race, family, or line; progenitor.

4.

a man who exercises paternal care over other persons; paternal protector or provider: a father to the poor.

5.

a person who has originated or established something: the father of modern psychology; the founding fathers.

If there is one thing that I have learned from Hubs in the over 20 years we've been together, it's this:  being a woman ain't that hard.

Yep girls, I said it.  Click close now if thy offend.

Since the birth age of the women's rights movement, we have blazoned our ways into society with fierce determination.  Women can do it ALL.  We can be that perfect wife, the perfect mother, the perfect professional, the perfect homemaker.... all we have to do is just do it.  All our options are available to us and we will be treated equally and fairly to men.

Amen!

Well, with all our push to become the superior race, women have unveiled what men have known for centuries.  You want it all, you got it.  And all that comes with it.

Wait.... what comes with it??  I just wanted to make a lot of money and run my house.  I have to take on extra stuff?

Oh yes ma'am you do.

What feminists and activists don't quite understand is the physiology of actually BEING a man.  Sure, we can learn how to mow and weed eat, pay bills, wear suits and pitch to CEO's.  But inherently there is one small thing we have missed in our plight to take over the world.  It might not be as easy as we thought.

Hubs and I married when Bubba was 3.  It was a seriously easy transition for the two of them, mostly because of their easy going natures.  I knew even when I first met Hubs that the two of them would blend together quite well as they seemed to naturally have a lot in common in their personalities and approaches to things.

Hubs and Bubba, circa 1994

What I didn't know then and I do know now is that it takes a man to raise a boy.  Yes, girls with our "do it all by ourselves mantras", you CAN do it all.  But you CAN'T teach a boy to be a man unless you are a man.

Period.

Women instinctively nurture, particularly mothers.  It's our primary job responsibility if you looked at our duties on a job description.  To love and nurture.  Genetically we are designed to do so.

And fathers?  To love and PROTECT.

Women can be bad asses.  We can stick up for our boys verbally when someone is going to hurt them.  We can get a handgun and shoot an intruder (well, some women can).  We can make money and contribute to our families.

But men... they protect.  From the olden days of sitting on their porch with their shotguns, men protect their families.  They don't have to stick up for their boys because they raise them to stand on their own feet.  They guide them to become men who protect their families.  They raise their boys to understand what it means to fight for God, for our country, for their family.  They show them how to make ultimate sacrifices.

Something women would really struggle with, given our nurturing design.

Hey, I'm not saying a woman can't raise a boy without a man.  Sure she can.  What I'm saying is that a boy NEEDS a man - any man - to help him become a man.  To give him the road
map, show him what it means to love something so deeply that you would lay down your life for it.

And that, my friends, is what I have been given.  My husband's one true love is his family.  He would do anything to protect us, anything to keep us safe and ultimately would lay down his life for us if need be.  That is what he has taught my sons - to love and protect their families.

Little guy isn't there yet, but he knows.  He watches Hubs taking care of us.  He hears the words Hubs says to me (be careful today, babe...)  He knows how much Hubs honors Bubba for his service to our country, for becoming an amazing father and protector of his own loved ones.

Hubs and Little Guy, Fathers Day 2006

He taught our boys something I never could have on my own.  Now that my oldest is an adult with a family of his own, I get it.  I see the groundwork that he laid for him.  I get why he taught him what it meant to be true to your word, to live up to your obligations and to be a consistent rock for those that would come to rely on him.

Fathers have an amazing ability to teach their children without even trying very hard.  They show them in their actions, their consistency and their pride in their family.  They :lead their children by example.

I am blessed to have that man in my life, but the true blessing comes to the two men he has created.  And by the way... that didn't happen by accident.  My amazing father in law taught Hubs how to be a man.

Pop, Hubs, Little Guy, Bubba and Nugget, FD 2012.

Happy Fathers Day, friends.  Tell that special man in your life what it means to you to have them today.  Thank them, even if they didn't help you with the dishes today (or yesterday).  And hey, maybe cut them some slack if they forgot to take out the trash.  It happens to the best of us.

Jen