Who's your daddy?

My son wants to be exactly like his dad. I have never heard him say this overtly to anyone but the proof is in the pudding. Case in point:

My son used to love Stuffing (I know some of y'all call it dressing but I call it stuffing, even if it wasn't 'stuffed' in the bird). He would gobble it up as if it was oxygen. To be clear, he is obsessed with food and he'd probably gobble up anything but he was particularly fond of stuffing. Then one thanksgiving day, I was serving my husband his dinner (don't get snippy. Yes, it is still possible to serve one's husband without being barefoot and pregnant and beaten down all day long...) and I asked Would you like some stuffing honey? His response No thanks. I don't really like stuffing. In that exact moment, the stuffing sparkle fell from my son's eyes and now he "doesn't like stuffing." Seriously. He won't eat it.

I realize that you might be sitting there saying to your sweet self Maybe the kid changed his mind! Maybe he used to like stuffing but he doesn't anymore. This is not a case of the wannabe dad clone. I see you will not be easily convinced. That's fine. I have more ammunition in my arsenal.

My husband does not enjoy running. It's not one of those things he's excited to do. But he does it. He does it a lot. Not just because the Army makes him do it. The boy hasn't heard him say that he hates running, mostly because it doesn't really come up in conversation. So yesterday, I took my kids for a run. Apparently three out of four of my children did not get the memo that running sucks. They love it! They had the time of their lives running and running and running. Now in my opinion, good for them! I'm happy for them. Run all you like! (On a side note, the child who didn't like it literally ran for twelve seconds stopped, looked at me and said, "Um. I don't really like this mommy." In my heart I was saying "I feel your pain kiddo. Two peas in a pod.")

So this morning, the boy got up and despite that it's pouring rain outside and incredibly windy, do you know what the first thing he said was? Mom! Can we go for a run? I said, It's raining so probably not. His response? Well Daddy does it!


What is the moral here? Well, there are a couple. For starters, your son's really are diligently paying attention to what you're doing out there Dads. At the end of your life, what book is your child going to write about you (maybe it'd be titled Things I Learned From My Dad)? What did you teach him? What kind of man were you?

I am glad that my son mimics his dad. Why would I not want him to copy someone who puts his wife above all others (seriously), loves his children more than his job, serves (I mean really serves) others, and gives of himself daily to the world and those in need. I am thankful that he looks to Chief for the idea of what a man looks like, rather than the many foolish males that pretend to be men roaming around the world. I just find it kind of funny that he won't eat stuffing and now wants to run, even in the rain.

Note: Fathers are equally being watched, studied and analyzed by their daughters. A daughter looks to her father to learn her worth, value, and the type of individual she should give her heart to. I, in no way, seek to disparage the importance of a father in a girl's life. My dad is an incredible hero to me. He's not perfect, but when I needed him he was there. Many components in my life, I learned from my nightly father-daughter talks. For the sake of this post, I'm merely pointing out the relationship between father's and sons.