Matt the Marvelous

I'm not given to excessive praise, as my husband knows, but the past few days have served to remind me that he is, in fact, quite useful to have around!

Matt was unexpectedly sent to Barrow for business Wednesday afternoon - Sunday morning and the kids and I definitely noticed his absence! I had help, of course - I enlisted my parents to spend some extra time with me and the kids. Even so, we did miss Dad!

For the record, here are some of the many things he does (besides the big "gainful employment" which provides us with the means to live well!):

• changes many many diapers whenever he's home (probably 80% of them during his "shifts"), and without complaining
• feeds bottles to babies - everytime he's home and they're being fed he helps
• not only feeds bottles to babies, but of own initiative makes extra bottles for me in the morning before work!
• reads story upon story upon story with Bentley
• engages in many cuddle sessions (he calls it reading, but I normally catch Matt & child sleeping)
• happily entertains grumpy children
• is always willing to give time to the kids instead of his projects (and normally without much grumbling!!)
• is the first to get up at night to take care of children that wake up
• watches the kids so I can escape (if needed) in the evening or during the weekend (Aside: this might seem like something all fathers do, but I've noticed that many Dads can't seem to handle even the thought of being alone with their children. Why is this?!?!)
• takes care of bath time for all 3 kids every Saturday - not a quick or easy event I can tell you, as I know from the other 2 bath times during the week
• participates in the hour long bed time routine every night

Not only does he actively parent, he helps around the house! He takes out trash, starts the dishwasher, cleans up the play areas upon occasion, washes bottles, and cleans bathrooms. He shovels driveways, mows the lawn, and takes care of the garden.

To sum it up - we're sad when Dad is gone, and happy to have him home!