Praise and compliments tend to make people feel warm and fuzzy inside. My husband is no exception, he beams when he is told what a fabulous job he’s doing and I try to make sure I recognize it on a regular basis. He has always been very involved and helpful around the house and does many things for me and our children. This year, I have been just so overwhelmed with gratitude for how amazing he has been that I feel like no gift is really enough to show how appreciative I am.

Dishes are my least favorite chore and knowing that, my husband has always been the primary dishwasher in our home. We don’t own an actual dishwasher anymore and we’ve found that dishes don’t seem to get done any faster with one, especially because he’s one of those people who washes the dishes before he puts them into the dishwasher and I don’t fault him for it, it really makes them sparkling clean.

I spent the majority of this year pregnant and being very nutrient-deficient, I was exhausted much of that time. Not only did he step up his game and make sure to pick up some of my slack, but my husband also reminded me to take vitamins and made sure he picked up healthy vegetables I liked when he went grocery shopping. If you’ve read his first couponing post (his second is almost fully written but he hasn’t had the time to publish!), you know that my husband is the one who does the grocery shopping here. I’m not sure how this role ever even started but he’s gotten pretty serious about his grocery shopping, putting himself on a schedule, a budget, and couponing like a madman.

Blogging itself takes time but getting your own blog off of the ground is very similar to starting a business in that you have to work hard, get yourself out there, do a lot of networking, and so much more. My husband has some experience in the realm of running your own business in his several years of being a realtor, so he was constantly offering me tips and tricks that applied to building my blog up. When it came to pitching companies for items to review, he will sift through websites and find me products that would be great for my blog. Many of them said yes and became really great contacts for me to have. He gave me advice on how to make myself memorable for companies. He even bought me a huge planner and accessories, suggesting ways to utilize each portion. I have blogging mentors but my husband has been the man behind the blog, the one not only encouraging me to try but insisting that I do. The way he believes in me, and I him, is out of this world.

One of the very few downsides to having a gaggle of children is the way that illness works. It makes its way through the house and sometimes cycles back around or adds new things to the mix while you’re trying to heal from the first one. Because of this, my household has been sick for over a month now, to include my husband. After our baby was born, I was on duty to breastfeed her around-the-clock. This meant that he was mostly alone in the care of sickies. When I can sneak away from the baby, I offer to help and am always met with, “I’ve got this, you worry about her.” Last night, he was awake all night with our son and still, he gave me report in the morning and went off to work. None of these stories even scratch the surface of how supportive this man is.

The mother is so often praised. Supermom, they call me. You’ve got your hands full, they tell me. My hands aren’t full because I have his hands too. I’m no Supermom without my Superdad by my side.

I may have started my life as one person but I truly feel like he has become my other half. All of my ideas sound better once they’re bounced off of him. Any amount of stress feels better after I’ve talked to him about it. When I tell him how thankful I am to have him and love all that he does, he just dismisses it by telling me that it’s his job. His favorite quote is something our five year old said last year, “It’s a Daddy’s job to make their families happy.” The thing is, though, there are a lot of people who aren’t doing these things for each other so he doesn’t have to do it just because it’s “his job”, he chooses to do it. He is being the best he can be because he wants to and that merits praise.

I love you and I love everything that you do for and with us. Thank you.

Me and Hubby on a trip he took me on this year for my birthday!

Everyone else, take the time to recognize the things that others do for you. It feels good for people to hear that someone appreciates them and how hard they’re working. I plan on touching on this topic again in the future but I think that we all need to spend more time focusing on those aspects within others, not just the things people aren’t doing. The atmosphere and dynamic change when you center it around the positives. Be grateful, be appreciative, and give back.

Is there someone in your life whose behavior should be recognized?