Question 2: “When I see my husband ______ with the kids, it makes me fall in love with him all over again.”
Readers’ answers to this question were more diverse, but one overall trend emerged. We fall in love with our men when they show their softer sides. Just look at some of the fill-in-the-blank words that showed up in response to the prompt above:
- Connect
- Listen
- Nurture
- Snuggle
- Pray
This goes back to the heart of what we talked about in Part 1. Our men want to be good dads. And ladies, looking at them through your eyes, it’s evident they are good dads. So why do we sometimes have difficulty “letting” them be the dads they want to be? One possible reason emerged in one more key word that emerged as an answer to this very same question!
- “Play”
We love it when our man plays with the kids … but sometimes “dad play” careens beyond a mom’s comfort levels! Remember, according to the research, men are more apt to engage in rambunctious play than moms. (Unless we’re talking about what this one special dad did with his little girl; one mom said she falls in love with her man every time he paints her daughter’s nails. And who wouldn’t? That’s just plain adorable.)
But I digress. Here’s the point: Dads do roughhouse more. The good news is: that’s how kids learn to navigate risk while in a safe (ish) environment. It’s how kids build character, resilience, and curiosity. It’s how kids become more confident and willing to step into unknown scenarios. It’s all stuff they need.
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