Holidays devoted to parenting often take on the cast of commercialism, and with one of our feet in retail, we too can fall prey to the present side of the occasion, rather than being present for the sentiment itself, as Elisa does below.
With Father’s Day on the horizon and Mother’s Day in recent May memory, I celebrate those who helm households in all forms. Father’s Day makes me think about my own father and the father of my children—how special and distinctive those roles are. My father’s more traditional attributes—as a Marine and therefore rule abider—complimented my mother’s nurturing character; together, my parents modeled conviction and compassion. Now, drawing on more models of parenting and partnering, my own marriage follows a personalized script based on supporting each other in our efforts as parents and professionals; Andy works from home and grounds the hurricane that is our family of six, which allows me to work in so many modes and remain responsive to my clients and my team. No matter how divergent our days, evenings find all six of us sitting around the dinner table, discussing a terrain of topics including the daily tribulations of being a teenager. And the weekends find us all outside together. I feel so grateful to live in a place where I get to recreate with my kids, and in turn, my kids are so lucky to be able to adventure with their Dad. The feelings of gratitude that suffuse Father’s Day inform every day I spend with Andy. Not only is he an amazing Father, he’s my partner and my best friend. He understands who I am and supports me in life.