Daddy's Way is Funner

 Yea, I know you fellow grammar geeks are hung up on the word FUNNER in my title,  as I would have been until I read a newspaper article a few months ago with this news flash -

Funner is now a word. 

It's even in the dictionary.

Any-hoo, back to funner, especially as pertaining to Daddies.

My kids found out early in life that Dad's way is OK.  They also found out that Dad's way can be funner than Mom's way. I don't feed kids cake for breakfast. Another adult in the family did once, while left alone with small children on a Saturday morning, and he was a hero for a lifetime, I can attest to that.

I don't know about your home, but here the majority of the time Mom is the meal, Dad is the desert. Even if I'm the cake, Dad's the frosting. That's fine. I've learned to hang  onto my fork and enjoy the sweetness Daddy brings to life.

I'm home all day, it's reasonable that the majority of the training and discipline comes from me. I regulate chores and schoolwork.

Daddy enforces the rules when he comes home, (you don't want to disobey Daddy's wife!)  but then  gets to play games or go somewhere fun.  If I'm busy resenting that, I'm not busy enjoying it.  It isn't just relief for the kids, it's relief for me, as well.  He brings just as much joy to my life as to the kids' lives.

In our house, Dad is a "spur-of-the-moment, let's find an adventure kinda' guy."  I'm a "let's plan for a week, clean the car and buy snacks on sale kinda' gal."  How did our worlds peacefully collide?  I became an organized woman whose diaper bag and car were both stocked and ready for adventure at all times.  That way when Dad came up with one of his prize-winning ideas, I was quickly ready to throw together a few last minute things and pack the kids in the car.

We've had some incredible adventures together as a family.  Once we drove into the middle of a herd of elk. We grieved together over the Viet Nam War.  We've watched deer and raccoons up close, found secluded beaches, hiked mountains and napped by rivers.

Even when I do  fun and adventurous things with the kids, they react differently. I sleep outside in the tent with them.  I showed them how to use waxed paper on the 14 foot high slide in our backyard to whiz down faster.  I make the summer lists. 

It's not that I'm not fun, it's just that Dad is funner.

I remember the thrill in their stories after a trip to the dump with Daddy.  Seriously, the dump?  My week of homeschooling crafts and outdoor picnics were overshadowed by a trip to a smelly dump?

The Lord showed me, it's not a comparison.  It's not a competition.  It's two people who love each other giving their children differently flavored experiences.  The kids obviously miss Daddy so much when he is at work, suddenly anything he does with them is exciting.  Because they love their Daddy.  Not because they don't love Mom, not because Mom isn't fun and not because Mom isn't doing a great job.

It's because they love their Daddies.

This is a good thing.

What good is cake without frosting?

If Dad's are funner, then we can have our cake and eat it too.