At-Home Dad: Thankfulness

As a stay-at-home dad, I get to see and be with my kids for a lot of things in their lives. First steps, first teeth, first solid foods, first crush, and many more firsts.

For all of these happenings, I am so thankful! I'm thankful that my wife lets me do it. Thankful God gave me this opportunity. I'm thankful for loads of things, many of which I think a lot of us take for granted as parents.

A big one is teachers. I'm thankful for teachers who dedicate their life to teaching our kids. They teach them well beyond the three R's. They teach them life skills. One of the biggest things they teach them is how to deal and relate with other kids and people in society. It isn't easy as a parent sometimes to teach our kids everything they need in life. Imagine doing it for a career, daily, for 20 or more of them. And all for pittance. Thank you, teachers.

Second, I'm thankful for public safety personnel. Fire, EMS and law enforcement help us all. Nobody wants to "need" any of these people, but recently I did. I was concerned about how bad the traffic was in the school zones surrounding my oldest child's school during the school drop off and pick up time. People would fly through the school zones doing well above the limit. Kids are walking to school and being dropped off and these people didn't care how fast they were going.

I contacted the law enforcement folks and thankfully they've stepped up their presence. I'm sure the 50 or more cars I know that have been cited in the last month aren't thankful, but I am. It makes me feel better that the Raleigh Police Department and Wake County Sheriff's Office takes it seriously, especially considering that the playground is less than 50 yards from the main thoroughfare. The next time you see one of these public safety folks, say thank you.

This is by no means an all-inclusive list. Just a tad of what I'm thankful for. What are you thankful for?