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Hey Dad,

You know if someone did a documentary on the life of the typical American dad (fatherus americanus), his natural habitat would certainly not be a furniture store.

In fact, I can hardly say "furniture store" without a strong gag reflex. Yet that is where I spent the better part of the day last Saturday.

At one point, while my wife looked at every swatch of fabric known to modern man, I slipped away to stretch my legs and observe other fathers out of their natural habitats. Interestingly enough, their conversations were similar to the one my wife and I were having.

"I like this," one man said.

"That's the first one you looked at," his wife countered.

"You mean you want to buy one today?" another dad said, obviously bored to the point of death.

"YES! We're going to get it today," she fired back.

One dad held a pillow in each hand for his wife to examine. I could tell by the look on his face that he just wanted her to pick one … any one.

Just then, a dad carrying an infant car seat caught my attention. He walked in with a smile on his face, set the baby down, and asked for a tape measure.

Wow! Now that's a good husband, I thought. He cares about what's important to his wife. Then I discovered his true motives. With the tape measure in hand, he whirled around and held it up to the cavernous opening of a TV cabinet.

"Oh," he said in disappointment. "It's only 62 inches wide … our TV is 66 inches."

As I walked around, I felt like I was in some kind of bizarre zoo where the camels were housed in the penguin exhibit. This is wrong, I thought. This is not my natural habitat!

Then it hit me like a full-sized sectional couch … this is exactly where I belong—not necessarily in furniture stores, but alongside my wife, protecting her, enjoying her, and involving myself in what's important to her, because she's important to me. That's what all wives want—and most fail to receive.

So … I marched back to the swatch table and involved myself in fabric picking … because I'm 'da husbandus supremus.

Dad, I'm just betting there's something your wife would love for you to be involved in, like re-doing a child's bedroom, putting up shelves in a closet, or talking about parenting issues. Let me encourage you to jump in there and make it your habitat.

You 'da dadicus fantasticus,

© 2007 Todd Wilson. Used by permission.

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