Monday, May 9, 2016

My MVP

Mother's Day was a blessing from my family as they did all they could think to make me feel special, but I couldn't help but think of my amazing husband, Jay, the entire day. The Mama KD story about the real MVP has been heard a lot this week, and its application to all mamas being the real MVP of the family. However, I really believe it is my husband and father to my children that is the real MVP in our family.
When he is with us, I have no worries or burdens and when he leaves I feel the weight of his responsibility to care for and protect us all as it passes to me. 

Last week we all went biking. We were about 10 miles out and Jay's tire went flat. He had to walk his bike the rest of the way, so he left me with the kids to ride on back to our car. As soon as he was out of sight and we had left him far behind, I felt that weight. Up to that point I had just followed, worry free, but in that moment that he was no longer with me, I felt the dangers of the ride, and the sun and the people all around and the weight of the responsibility I had to keep my kids safe. I suddenly bore it alone and hadn't realized how much strength he had to carry that burden and make it feel so light for me. When I am gone, he is a superstar dad that keeps everything running smoothly his way, not mine. I left for the weekend to do some homeschool shopping, get some time off, and catch up with a dear friend. When I came home, everything was as it should be and not one person had a horrible story or a complaint. He says it is chaos when I am gone, but I know that it is just isn't my world, it's his. Where as he gives me respit from the burden of safety caring for the safety and provisions for the family, I give him peace with some organization to their lives. But even when I am gone, he manages better than he thinks. When I hit the wall and can go no further, he has the strength to continue on and let me rest. I am always amazed at how much more energy he has than me, how much less sleep on which he can function than me, and how little he cares that I can not do nearly as much work as he can. He goes so much further than is possible for me. When my eyes and my body are finished and the most I can muster is a delegating mama on the couch, he is still working on his honey do list even though I have given him permission to chill out for a while. 
On top of all of it, he loves us all so much and puts us first in a world that tells men that their family is secondary to all of their own selfish desires. This world views a man that cares for his family above all else, as a failure. Men should aspire to success in their careers, the amount of money he makes, his looks, his car, and everything under the sun except how he treats and cares for his family. A man that chooses his family over a high paying job is a failure to the world, but to his kids he is the biggest hero on earth. My Jay has stood in front of the flaming arrows for his family. I can't say how many times I've watched him be beat up and shot down for his family. He has lost a job for his son's sake. He has made others mad to be able to care for me. 
I feel as though mother's day should really just be a first Father's day, because although I am appreciated and loved, He really is the irreplaceable MVP.