Go Ask Mom

Julia Sims: Oh, daddy!

But, I am lucky in that I'm not a single mom. Count Will lucky too. My husband, Mike, completes our little threesome and he is a hands-on dad. I think of him as part boy scout, part Bob the Builder and part kid.

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Julia Sims with son Will
By
Julia Sims

There are some days I'm absolutely convinced I am the center of Will's universe.

For instance, Sunday he said "mama" 22 times in the span of just one hour. (I counted) You know, the usual: "Mama, may I have some juice?" or "Mama, where's my other sock?" or "Mama, there's an ant on the floor!" (For some reason, I'm the designated ant slayer)

But, I am lucky in that I'm not a single mom. Count Will lucky too. My husband, Mike, completes our little threesome and he is a hands-on dad. I think of him as part boy scout, part Bob the Builder and part kid.

Mike gets involved. While I may know the other moms better, Mike tends to know the teachers and teacher assistants better. He loves volunteering and is usually the first to sign up for anything. He also takes it upon himself to help out in the classroom.

Mike loves to teach Will about nature and gardening. Wanting to spread that passion, he helped Will's class plant a blackberry bush so they could understand where food comes from. Will is always over the moon when Mike makes his classroom visits!

Mike is handy too. If you can't find something at the local hardware store, you can find it at our house. So, at age five, Will knows his way around a Phillips head screwdriver and various other tools. This should serve him well down the road. 

Julia Sims' husband teaches their son to fish.

And of course there's the before bedtime wrestling matches and the trips to the pizza-arcade place (where yours truly refuses to go). Daddy takes care of that stuff too.

While mamas provide the soft landing for kids, dads are equally important. I know not every child is fortunate enough to have two parents and sometimes, even when they do, schedules don't always allow those parents to really be there. So, each day, I count my blessings.

Mike and Will like to call each other "my best." The other day, Will said "Daddy, you're my best." Then, he looked at me and said "Mama, you're my second best." So, I guess I'm not the center of his universe after all, but I'll take second best any day of the week.

Julia is a reporter for WRAL-TV and the mother of a preschooler. She writes monthly for Go Ask Mom.

 

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