I have been ill all weekend; this has been a bit of a bummer for me because weekends are the only family time we get. As a result, my husband spent two days taking care of me and two small humans, as well as a house and multiple pets. I am sure that was exactly what he hoped for when he planned his weekend (some sarcasm could be sensed here). The entire weekend, from his perspective, went all wrong. The lawnmower wouldn’t start so he couldn’t cut the grass. He had to get dirt to fill the holes that our German Shepherd made when attempting to reach the earth’s core and our daughter decided to cause chaos outside with her canine best friend while he was trying to get work done. After all the yard work attempts, managing the household, making food, and trying to keep a 4 1/2 month and almost two-year-old quiet, trash had to be taken out. When my husband walked out the door, our baby girl decided it would be a good time to show her dad that she can lock doors. Our garbage bins are right outside the service entrance, maybe two steps outside the door, when he turned around and walked back it was locked. Now our daughter, the precious mouse of our heart, stayed in the mud room to wave and laugh at her dad as he banged on the window, hoping I would hear and let him in. Eventually, he cut his losses and walked to the front door close to the living room and knocked. I opened the door, with quite the look of surprise, and asked what happened. My husband explained the situation, to be honest I laughed. It wasn’t because it was my husband, it was because he looked almost as amused as our daughter. I learned a multitude of things from being sick this weekend. First, I learned my husband will not do the same things around the house that I will. He does not see the same priorities and if our child wears the same shirt two days in a row….no big deal for him but major deal to me. Second, I learned that our children will never choose me over their dad. He’s their bestie and it’s a fact of life at this point. Where this could make me feel all sorts of sad, I see this as a wonderful example of how great of a dad he is. Third, this poor man will not leave me when I am sick. He worries about my health, even when it’s something simple like the flu, altering his day in order to take care of me and our children. That is a stand-up husband and father right there. Finally, I enjoy just watching my family together. Being sick, and relegated to the couch, gave me the opportunity to observe my husband just really take the reins and be the admiral (inside household joke, he refers to me as the admiral at work). It is such a blessing to watch my husband be a wonderful father, an involved one. He knows every little detail about our children and its beautiful to watch. I feel so blessed to have him in my life and to be my spouse and the father of my children (yes, I know I’m gushing). The point is, could he have been mad that our daughter locked him out? Sure! He could have been furious, but he wasn’t. He laughed and picked her up to tell her that she was clever. Honestly, it reminds me of the father that God is. There are times when we lock God out of our hearts. We wave from the window, and maybe talk behind it, but we still keep Him at arm’s length. But like my husband with our daughter, God isn’t angry with us when we let him back in. God embraces us with open arms and reminds us how much he loves us. It’s amazing how God sees us and the influence that has on raising our children. As for our daughter, from now on, I’ll be bringing my house key just in case she locks me out.