Learning to love in new ways

To celebrate mamahood and all that is awesome about it, we asked a few of our Offbeat Papas and Mamas to write about their partners and spouses. Happy Mother’s Day week, guys! Because, seriously, don’t we at least get a week?

Offbeat Mamas will probably recognize Leah from various features on our site.

I’ve always been good with kids. People have always told me that, and it’s (fairly) true, not to toot my own horn. Since I was a young man, people have insisted that I would be a great father, and I hope to god that they’re right. No one ever made these types of generous assumptions about my wife’s potential maternal abilities, however. I guess she just didn’t seem the type. It wasn’t her fault, of course, she’d just never really been around babies or children that much, and on more than one occasion, told me that she always felt that infants were “judging her.”

I, however, never doubted that Leah would be an amazing mother. Those who know her best know how kind, patient, and loving she is. We know how smart, driven, and funny she is. We know how fun, accepting, and fearless she is. We know how she possesses all the traits that a mother requires, and does so in abundance.

Somewhat ironically, when we started talking about trying to get pregnant, it was me who had cold feet and it was her confidence that carried us through it. My life is full of achievements, big and small, that never would’ve happened without Leah, and on the top of that list sits my beautiful daughter, Harper.

We brought Harper home from the hospital the day before Mother’s Day last year, and since then I have been continually amazed by my wife. The beautiful thing about love is that, no matter how big it gets, it can always grow, and I’ve spent that last year discovering entirely new ways to love my wife and entirely new reasons to do so. She is my best friend, the best mother a child could hope for, and a perfect partner for me in all of our adventures. I have no idea what comedies or tragedies parenthood will bestow upon us, but I do know that as long as I have Leah, I’m not worried about it.