On our recent cross-country trip, I noticed that when we travel as a family Mark and I have different unspoken roles that we fall into. Mark buys the tickets and makes the travel plans. I pack the suitcases. Mark carries the tickets and reservations. I carry the food, entertainment, and first-aid. Mark walks ahead leading us from gate to gate. I walk behind making sure no one gets lost and helping the kid who has to tie his shoes, drops her sweater, or needs a drink.
Sometimes I got annoyed walking behind. I knew the way to the gate just as well as Mark did. Why didn't he even slow down to see if we were still following him? As I hurried along at the back of our little row of kids, I remembered the stress of traveling without Mark--the constant worry of making sure everyone was with me while juggling gate numbers, bathroom breaks, boarding passes, and tired kids--and I realized what a metaphor for life this was. Mark and I are a great team. We each have our own places in the family, but each of us is important and our family functions most efficiently with both of us filling our different roles. The kids need me in the back just like they need Mark in the lead.
Mark was working at Kennedy Space Center in Florida last week. I got a kick out of Bryce telling a friend of ours that dad was not home because he was "on vacation for work." While he was gone I realized, once again, how much he does for our family. Not just in bringing home the figurative bacon, but in all the little services he does for each of us. We are a much happier and less stressed family when Dad is home. We love you, Daddy. Lead on.
2 comments:
Not to mention the fact the we have cereal for dinner when Steve is not here!
What are you trying to do, Cindy, make me cry??? lol
We all know that you are the glue that binds the family together. I'm just the sugar that gets the kids all hyped up, and when they come down from their high, they get stuck to the glue.
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