It started with a seatbelt....

... and ended with a new appreciation for what my husband does.
We were all getting in the vehicle to leave. I waited for the last girl to climb in, then I shut the door and hopped in the front seat. Nate looked back and said, "Man, Mommy didn't even help you with your seat belt!!" And I, as I always do, immediately got defensive. "She's big enough to do it herself. I don't feel like I need to baby her and do the things she can easily do herself." His response stopped me in my tracks. He told me that, while he knows that the big girls are completely capable of that simple task, he feels he has a responsibility to show his daughters what they should expect from a man. He has the duty of showing them how a real man treats a woman and he doesn't want them to settle for less than a man that will take care of them. And, in an instant, I changed the way I viewed EVERYTHING he does as a dad. I saw it in the light of a dad instead of a mom. What a huge job he has. I have no doubt that most daddies feel this way about their daughters, but I feel completely blessed to be married to a man that loves his girls so, so much.
This also caused me to reevaluate the way I mother. Am I doing it right? Obviously we all make mistakes every day, but in the big picture am I getting it right?? Or am I failing my little girls. I decided to keep doing what I'm doing. Because, while their Daddy has the job of showing them how a real man treats a woman, I feel like I have the responsibility of teaching them the be independent women. Women who are completely capable of doing it on there own.
It's a fine line, isn't it?? Being able to do it yourself, but knowing that we have the right to have a man be our Knight in Shining Armor. To treat us as the princesses our creator intended us to be.
So I will continue to make them buckle their seat belts. I will make them fill their own water cups. I will expect them to do the simple tasks without asking for my help. But my heart will overflow with love and joy every time I see my husband step in and do the little things for them. Because now I know he is showing them what to expect from their future husbands. Because in 15/20/25 years from now, when they are falling madly in love, I pray that they are falling for a man that will treat them exactly how their Daddy does. Because they deserve nothing less.
So, dads everywhere: if you have daughters, treat them the way you would expect any other man to treat them. And if you have sons, teach them how to treat a woman! We all need to work together here, or else I'm going to start arranging marriages!!