Paying Tribute to My Love, For Father's Day

Thank you Lids for sponsoring this post. While this was a sponsored opportunity from Lids, all opinions expressed here are my own.

The kids and I make our fair share of appearances here, but you don't see a whole lot of my husband/their dad, Robbie. Robbie is admittedly not really the "hey look at me!" social media type, and would rather do just about anything than take Instagram selfies or overshare on the internet. But he is often here behind the scenes, taking any photographs that include me in them, working tirelessly on the home projects I share here, and, most importantly, taking care of Essley and Emmett on his own when he's off the road (often from very early in the morning until bedtime) while I work. With Father's Day approaching, I thought it was time for me to pay tribute to him here, gush for a minute about what an incredible father he is, and share the special early Father's Day gift we gave him to thank him for everything he does for our family.

As my regular readers know, our family has unique circumstances in terms of everyday life. Where most typical families have a parent or parents who work during the week but are home nights and weekends, we often spend the majority of each week (and most weekends) apart. Robbie works in the music industry, and his job stage managing a band keeps him on the road about half the year. I couldn't ask for a better example for my children in terms of someone who works hard, is great at his job, and lives his dream as a result of pursuing a career that is creatively fulfilling for him. But it's not always an easy life for the kids, for me, or for him - especially for him. Robbie has to sacrifice a great deal in terms of things that most families might take for granted. He had to go on tour when both children were less than two weeks old, and he missed a lot of "firsts" and milestones for both of them. He sometimes misses holidays and their birthdays, and often has to miss events at school and for their activities. And as I mentioned above, when he is home, he is on full time kids duty while I work long hours to make up for the times I could only work part time while he was away. I get a lot of support from friends and family who acknowledge that I am often single parenting, but the truth is, Robbie is also often single parenting when he is off the road. Sometimes he will work a show until 2 or 3 in the morning, hop on a plane at 6 AM, land at 8 or 9 AM, and I will start working the minute he walks in the door. He drops his bags, chugs a cold brew and steps right into parenting a 2 and 4 year old, on a couple hours of sleep following a 14 hour work day. It's also very rare that we are able to do things together as a family because one of us is either extreme parenting or extreme working, as we like to jokingly label it.

That said, Robbie never complains; instead he demonstrates what it means to be a positive, grateful, proactive parent. He expresses sadness over missing us when he is gone and over not being able to be present for some of the important parts of the kids' lives, but he does not complain about the long hours he cares for the kids by himself, or about the exhaustion he often feels, or about not being able to do much outside of work or parenting. And even when he's tired and overworked, he never just goes through the motions of being a parent. When the kids were newborns, he would sometimes spend all night rocking them in a chair so I could get sleep. When our son Emmett was diagnosed with a serious form of epilepsy as a baby and we had to spend time in the hospital, followed by months of dealing with severe side effects from Emmett's medication, Robbie took turns with me once again holding him through the night and catering to him all day long, all while making sure our daughter Essley received equal attention. Through it all, he kept a smile on his face.

Robbie pours all of himself into being a dad, and happily. He dresses up in princess crowns with Essley, watches the same animated musical movies with her over again and again, has endless tea parties with her, creates sidewalk chalk murals with her, and practices her dance routines with her every single day. He does the same puzzle over, and over, and over with Emmett, plays "race" with him on no sleep, and sings and dances to Emmett's favorite song, "Baby Shark," on repeat. He gets up early and makes special pancakes in the shapes of all of the kids' favorite animals. He takes Essley to soccer and gymnastics on the often only two days a week he is home, and cheers her on while simultaneously chasing Emmett throughout the facilities. He makes us delicious dinners almost every night he's not on the road, and lets the kids help him cook, even when it means doubling the prep time (and the mess). He works tirelessly on projects around the house, and lets the kids "help" with those too. I could go on and on you guys, truly. I feel incredibly lucky that Robbie is the person to help me raise Essley and Emmett. I am very grateful.

Because of everything Robbie does for our family, and what a wonderful father he is to our kids, we decided we would give him a special Father's Day gift early this year. This was actually Essley's idea. Her reasoning was this: "If we give daddy a gift before Father's Day, he'll be surprised. And surprises make everything better." Smart cookie right there!

Aside from family, there are two things Robbie loves most in the world, and anyone who knows him could instantly tell you what these two things are: music and baseball. Because he works in the music industry, and is fortunate to have access to lots of hook-ups in terms of music gear, albums, concert tickets, etc., I knew getting him a music-inspired gift would be hard. But getting him a baseball-inspired gift would not only be easy, it would be incredibly appreciated. Robbie grew up in St. Louis and is a huge (like, massive) St. Louis Cardinals fan. I knew that Lids carries everything we could ever want in terms of MLB gear, and that Robbie had been dreaming about a jersey for a while, so it was a no brainer for us to do a little bit of secret shopping on the Lids' website. I was in awe at how many truly awesome Father's Day gift ideas they have! From apparel and hats to outdoor gear to watches to tech and more, they have pretty much anything a sports-loving dad would appreciate. It was tough to narrow down what to get Robbie, but we settled on this St. Louis Cardinals New Era MLB 59FIFTY Cap in red, and this St. Louis Cardinals Yadier Molina Majestic MLB Men's PlayerJersey in grey. I'm not sure who was more excited for the items to arrive - my 4 year old daughter or me.

Robbie has a couple weeks off between tours right now, and on the day he got home, we decided to give him his special early Father's Day presents. Essley sat Robbie down and proceeded to perform a dance she choreographed for him while Emmett ran in circles belting out a song he'd written about baseball (imagine the words "basebaaaaalll" being loudly screamed over and over, with love), and then presented him with his gifts, which she had expertly enclosed in shark gift bag. I wish you guys could have seen Robbie's face light up when he saw what we'd gotten him. After hugging the kids and me repeatedly, he put on the jersey and the hat, with a big ol' grin. It felt pretty great to see him so excited over a gift from us, and to know we'd gotten him something we knew he'd truly cherish. He thanked us over and over, and told us that every time he wore the jersey and baseball cap - here and on the road - he would think about how much he loved us. You can't get better than that.

If you have a special dad in your life and want to give him a gift he'll truly love this Father's Day, check out these awesome gift ideas from Lids. In addition to hats, jerseys, and countless other sports based items they offer, they also have the coolest Custom Zone where you can design the perfect hat, and a great loyalty program called Access Pass, where you can earn points toward rewards and more. They also have an amazing special going on right now: 30% off orders of $40+ from June 7th through June 9th. Woohoo!


Okay, your turn! Tell me your favorite thing about a dad in your life, or why they deserve a special gift this Father's Day. I'd love to know!

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