Baby daddy

My son Bryan did not just get his awesomeness from me.  I know.  I know.  You all thought he did & really who could blame you?!?  There is this other person in his life that tends to lend a substantial hand in his upbringing, this person is his dad, my ex-husband, Dan.

Despite EVERYTHING that Dan & I have been through, he has always been a good father to our son.  They have a special relationship & always have.   Dan was Bryan's soccer coach for years and was loved by the whole team.  He is also the one who would go on the class trips with Bryan in elementary school.
Sometimes Bryan acts so much like his dad that I want to scream & am totally willing to disown him when he acts out of turn; calling his dad and saying, "Your son..."!  Dan is a superstar in his son's eyes which is all MY doing.  Trust me, Dan and I are civil, but I don't always sing his praises.  I don't EVER disrespect my son's father by speaking negatively in front of him.  That was a rule from the day we separated.  Anyone who is in Bryan's life knew how I felt about it and it wouldn't be tolerated.  Dan was his father for better or worse.  We were young and had no idea what the heck we were doing, but he stayed in his son's life because he wanted to.

Being a dad...I don't know how to do it and have never pretended to.  Dan always keeps his cool, so I never really knew or understood how hard it was for him to be a teenage dad.  He was always the one who knew that we would do OK raising Bryan.  I was always the one who thought that I don't know enough to teach another human being how to live life; raise someone to eventually be a grown-up.  What if we eff him up?  Dan trusted me.  He still trusts me and gives me credit for how great Bryan turned out. 
Today, I tip my hat to him.  This weekend is Father's Day and Bryan will be down the shore with his friends.  Dan is totally OK with this.  They have a great relationship/friendship that I will never even try to understand. (All the burping, farting and spitting grosses me out anyway...& the video games. ugh.)
He is the very best dad that he can be.  I don't always agree with his choices and at times I don't believe that he gives 100%, but I do believe that he gives everything that he can to give to Bryan.  He's pretty helpful to me too, I believe that the greatest gift a father can give his child is to respect their mother.

Happy Father's Day to all the great Dad's out there!!