Daddy day (and night) care

As changes occur in families and in society as a whole, fathers are taking on more and more of an important role in the daily lives of their children. For the most part, gone are the days when the father came home from work and flipped open a newspaper, asking, "What's for dinner?" He comes in the door now and spends some time playing with the children.

Dads make great babysitters, but things go even further than that sometimes now. Fathers at least share equally in the care of their children and are sometimes the main care providers. This is the case at our house. I proudly tell people, "When he's home, the children are his." It's true, and I am forever grateful. He feeds them, plays with them, reads to them, and puts them to bed just about every night, and pals around with them most weekends.

Some of the best times our children have are with their father. They get to go places and see people. Of course they do that with me but usually it is a trip to the store or to interview someone for a human interest story. They are expected to be as quiet and still as possible during these outings with me. Not so with their daddy. They get to really be kids with him, and always come home with beaming smiles on their faces.

For about a year after I started freelance writing, I had a night and weekend job making sandwiches. My shift sometimes started before he got home, so I took them with me and he came to pick them up. He took them home and put them to bed every night. Never once was there a single complaint about having to tend to the children after a long, hard day at work on his part.

When I was away at work on this job on the weekends, the world was theirs. I don't think they stayed home one single day during the time I worked outside the home on this particular job. They came to see me many times with uncombed hair, worn clothing, full bellies and the brightest smiles you ever wanted to see. They were happy because their father had taken care of what was really important.

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