The Difference Between Mom and Dad

Mom serves Dad a nice hot meal. She prepares the children’s meals at slightly cooler temperature. She has her food nice and cold. It takes her a spell to get to hers.

Dad has a nice place to go to work. He is able to escape the chaos of daily life around the house. Mom is at the center of the chaos making sure that it remains controlled so that Dad has a welcoming place to return.

Mom doesn’t have a consistent sleep routine, unless one counts the lack of routine a routine. The children sometimes cause Mom to stay up later, washing clothes needed for school or church.  Mom sometimes is up all night being a nurse as a child fights to keep food down, to keep fluid in. If a child has a bad dream, it is often Mom he cries out for, and Mom who must rescue. Dad goes to bed at a set time, rises at a set time.

Mom has things that children are naturally curious about. Mom loves to craft, and children love to play with her beads, open her oils, toss her needles, undo her crochet, rip her patterns, glue her papers together, color the walls, disorganize and basically run amok with Mom’s tools and supplies. Dad’s tools are too dangerous, too big, or too cumbersome to be of interest to the children. But even then, he is able to lock away his items to keep them safe from syrupy little hands. He often wonders why Mom makes a big deal when her stuff is raided.

Mom’s daily clothes are also different from Dad’s. Hers are full of stains from having  caught the puke, bodily fluids, spit, and children’s food. His clothes remain clean looking. Dad stays clear of such messes as he sees them coming.

Mom is also able to see what Dad often misses. Mom is able to watch a child sleep and dream. Mom often sees many of a child’s firsts, first step, first word, first giggle, first smile, even first dream. Mom also sees first heart aches, as a child falls and skins his knee in the middle of the day, or comes home from school crushed by what others have cruelly said. Because Mom is generally more available, it is Mom who is the hero of the family.

Here is to both my bride and my mom, two women God has blessed me with. Their sacrifices will more than not go unsung. But their love will never be forgotten. Happy Mother’s Day.