Jennifer, Thanks

On Mother’s Day, 2011 I wrote this post about my mom. Now four years later, my wife Jennifer is mom to our daughter Hannah. Maybe one day Hannah will compile some list of why she is thankful for her mom. Until then you will have to put up with me and my observations about how deeply my wife loves our daughter and why I am thankful for Hannah’s mom.

Mother’s Day, 2015

Jennifer,

Thanks for your faith. God has heard every prayer you have offered. He has been so faithful to provide an answer to so many of those prayers. I need look no further than Hannah to understand the power of your prayers and the power of our God.

Thanks for taking Hannah shopping. No, really. I know I will probably regret the two of you shopping together later in life as the two of you then team up on me and our finances but I also understand how moments like these bond the two of you to one another. And maybe, if she’s ever an angry teenager and you are the befuddled mom buying shoes will be something you two can do together without too much of a fuss.

Thanks for being the practical parent when the other parent falls prey to the twinkling of blue eyes, the swirl of blonde hair, the smile that melts a heart and the charm of a little girl who has her dad wrapped around her finger.

Thanks for being a "go-to-work” mom. I know you struggle with working outside the home while having a daughter to raise. It is too bad how some make you feel guilty for doing one while others make you feel guilty for doing the other. You do what you do for our family with dignity and grace. One day Hannah will see your example and understand how her own potential really is without limits and that will be in large part to how you have lived your own life before her.

Thanks for making Hannah eat three more bites of this and four more bites of that. We have learned how Hannah loves to negotiate so many things even how to finish supper each night. You have become an adept negotiator often winning the battle by somehow getting Hannah to finish off her noodles or her veggies. I salute you for your work here. Now, do I have to eat another piece of asparagus before getting a piece of pie?

Thanks for enduring potty training. Messy? Yes. Ugly? Yes. But it was worth it and you saw to it that it was started and became a priority. Hannah and I could not have made this without you. Excuse me while I flush.

Thanks for eating broccoli even though you don’t like it that much just so Hannah will know it’s good for her. Hannah watches every thing we do and with time will understand why we do some things we don't always enjoy but know are good for us.

Thanks for reading to Hannah almost every night. I enjoy reading to her too but she seems to prefer you to do this and I have learned to enjoy watching and listening to the two of you read then react to the story at hand. Even if I have heard the story a hundred times already, watching and listening to the two of you never gets old. And, it never will.

Thanks for teaching Hannah about the importance of family and for teaching her that she completes our life together as nothing else ever could. We are very blessed to have families and friends who love her beyond any words we could ever hope to string together but all of that starts with us.

Thanks for making each holiday special by encouraging Hannah to participate in preparing for the holiday at hand. I know these plans don’t always work out the way you want or expect but you are making memories she will one day hold tight in her heart and so will you. Whether it's carving a pumpkin at Halloween or making and decorating cookies for Santa Claus at Christmas or dyeing Easter eggs, she will one day look back at fondness to these special times you two shared, and maybe she will pass those traditions on to her children when that time comes.

Thanks for taking average, ordinary days and celebrating those with Hannah and me. Some of our best times have been spent digging out leftovers from the refrigerator, spreading a blanket on the living room floor, turning on a movie and spending time in front of the fireplace celebrating being together as a family. It's all so average and ordinary but it's more than those things when we really think about it, isn't it?

Thanks for not freaking out when peanut butter got smeared on the kitchen counter or cereal spilled on the couch or applesauce dumped on the living room carpet because you understand sometimes things with a three year old and her clumsy dad just get messy just like life. What? You didn’t know about the applesauce?

Thanks for making sure we visit the zoo and the beach and the mountains and thanks for taking time to chase butterflies and catch lightning bugs and examine rocks and ponder bugs and bees and the sky, the sun, the stars and the moon. Hannah is coming to understand how the great outdoors is a great adventure waiting to be explored, experienced and enjoyed thanks in large part to you.

Thanks for having the two arms a precious little girl wants around her when a skinned knee or bumped head or scratched hand seems like the end of the world, and for having the ability to then convince that precious little girl that things will be better than okay-with or without a band-aid-because things are just better with your hug and your kiss.

Thanks for taking the task of bathing Hannah almost every night. She rarely makes this easy and I know it has stressed you some nights. It is necessary though and it won’t be long before this nightly ritual becomes a memory.

Thanks for your calm demeanor when Hannah has a meltdown.Whether it's been in public or in private, you always seem to be even-keeled when it comes to dealing with a three-year-old who may be mad, hungry, tired or frustrated. Your attitude then always seems to make things get back to normal sooner and that is a good thing.

Thanks for getting outside your comfort zone from time to time. Maybe it was a carnival ride you thought might make you squeamish or running around our backyard kicking an over-sized soccer ball but you did those things so that Hannah would have those experiences-and maybe because you thought they might be a little fun.

Thanks for accepting that our little girl didn’t like to be rocked to sleep or didn’t like bows in her hair. I know those are things you wanted to do with a child but our little Miss Independent had other plans right from the start. Thanks for adapting and loving her for the unique bundle of joy that she is.

Thanks for teaching Hannah to be courteous and polite, as much as you can for her being as young as she is now. One day, out of the blue, and maybe even years from now, some one will tell you what a thoughtful and courteous young lady she is. I hope you understand then that such a comment will merely be a reflection of what a good mother has taught her to be.

Thanks for the times when you tell Hannah she has a good Daddy even when you know my failings and my faults, and even when those failings and faults are on display for the two of you and others. Forgiveness is a powerful thing and necessary for each one of us at some point. I appreciate you looking past my struggles and limitations to see the good I do have in me and I trust you understand the love I have for you and Hannah is stronger than my own weaknesses.

Thanks for taking silly photos and acting goofy with Hannah from time to time. I love to hear the two of you laugh together and cherish the photos of the two of you mugging for the camera.

Thanks for explaining the unexplainable to Hannah. Again and again. Why is the sky blue? Who is in that car? Why don’t we drive that way? I am often envious of the creative answers you provide sometimes. She’ll understand things better one day. Maybe I will, too.

Thanks for being tough when you have to be and tender when you need to be. Hannah will value all that that means later in life. I value it now.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Love,

Tim (and Hannah)