The best of men...

Sunday morning, 6am. Chris was woken by the dulcet tones of Pickles shouting "Happy Father's Day Daddy! Can we play Super Mario now?!" and the wind being knocked out of him as she dive bombed his stomach.

Despite his quiet grumbles to me, he did get up for her. He and Pickles snuggled up in our bed next to me and played Super Mario Run on the ipad together while I snoozed waiting for Puds to shout for me. They giggled, cheered their triumphs together, and Pickles very kindly said "never mind Daddy lets try again" when they lost a game. They've bonded over their joint love of gaming, which is something I can see continuing as Pickles gets older.

You see this is the kind of Dad Chris is. He grumbles to me his frustrations of our children, but rarely does he say any of it in front of them so he doesn't hurt their feelings or squash their enthusiasm. He is the most supportive and accepting man I have ever met. Whatever the activities the kids are into, he wants to be a part of it and encourages them to practice with gusto. Often at bedtime I hear him enthusiatically going over the names of colours or reciting numbers with Puds. Today he was teaching Pickles how to fold various types of paper aeroplane before racing to see which design went further. He loves her thirst for science and technology, and is already planning fun ways to teach both her and Puds computer programming and coding as they get older.

He loves to watch them dance and dress up, joining in with Puds singing Frozen's "Let it go" and often helping him put on his tiara when requested. When Pickles developed an obsession with My Little Pony last year, he watched so many episodes with her that he managed to learn the words to all of the songs, both TV series and movie, and the names of all the characters (his favourite is Pinkie Pie).

His ambitions for them in the future are modest compared to most people, focusing mostly on their happiness and mental health, rather than success in any particular career. He wants them to be kind, generous, thoughtful and accepting of others. When or if they ever meet a partner they would like to introduce us to, he doesn't want them to feel that they have to "come out" or announce their particular preference to a gender. Just bring home the person you have chosen to be with and let that be that. We will accept them. If they choose a particular way to dress, it will be accepted as part of who they are, as part of their personality, whether it conforms with social norms or not.

And it goes beyond the children. He supports my role as a stay at home mum as if I was out working a nine to five job. Shortly after having Pickles, a woman he was having a converstation with commented that I should be doing 100% of the night feeds, childcare and chores around the house because I didn't work. He jumped to my defense immediately shutting her down, saying that being a mother was most definitely work whether I was employed or not, and that he would never expect me to do everything alone.

Don't get me wrong, he's not perfect. He has his flaws, as I have mine, and we most certainly argue. But in this, he is amazing. I don't think I tell him that enough, so here I am telling him.

Thank you, Chris. For accepting me, and accepting our children, just as we are, and for just what we will become. You are truly the best of men.