More Than Luck

I've been thinking quite a bit lately about how lucky I am.

I have so much in my little life, and I try very hard to be grateful.  My children are beautiful and amazing. Our home is a lovely, warm, safe place.  Everyone can learn and grow and be together in a family that genuinely shows great care and affection and respect for each person, no matter how big or small they may be.

Then I thought....there's got to be more to it than luck.

And most certainly, there is. Perhaps there are many factors that come in to play, but there is one essential factor that has been on my mind a lot lately.

Call me old-fashioned, or whatever you will, but I find that I very much believe the core success of our family comes from none other than my one and only, tried and true, loyal and loving Husband.

I was watching him this weekend as we had a small gathering of friends over for our Baby Man's birthday.  I watched how he engaged with each of our children.  His easy smile and his warm laugh.  I watched him play out in the snow on the porch with our littlest ones while all the other grown-ups stayed warm and dry inside, just to hear his babies giggling and screeching with delight.  I watched how he remained calm in the presence of a chaotic scene as everyone scrambled together to sing Happy Birthday and eat cake and ice cream, with the inevitable mess that ensued.

He is relaxed.  He is peaceful.  He is respectful. He is joyful. He is present.

And it really, truly, affects how our family operates on a daily basis.

No one is perfect, that's not what I'm saying. Certainly he is human and he has his moments, we all do.

But in this man I have found the good moments far outweigh the bad.  Whether he is kissing his babies goodnight, or killing aliens with his pre-teen, or watching proudly as our 9 year old receives his brown belt in Tae Kwon Do, he is always striving to be the very best Dad he can be in the ways that our children need him the most.

And I don't think any family gets much luckier than that.