the other night, when we were putting max (8) to bed, he said — totally out of the blue: daddy is the fun parent, mommy is the responsible parent.
i’d just prayed with him and kissed him goodnight, so he followed up by calling out to jeannie: come give me a kiss, responsible parent!
we laughed our heads off. and jeannie was trying not to be offended. but then i realized, maybe i’m the one who should have been offended. my son just said i wasn’t responsible!
My daughter Rachel (now 18) once informed me that Daddy’s were for fixing things, Mommy’s were for hugs. I felt kinda bad that she didn’t see me as the parent to go to for comfort but that’s probably a pretty fair read. I had a tendency to try and “explain” what had happened, my lady wife just comforted her. I’ve learned to keep my yap shut in most cases and wrap her in my arms. Any needed explanation can come later.
Peace
Jay