I realize that in almost a year of blogging, I have barely mentioned the other half of this parenting team. My husband, Greg, and I were college sweethearts. While friends of mine were falling for the cool guys who never called them back, I fell for the quiet guy with the amazing black curly hair. What set Greg apart was his kindness and open heart. His goofiness wasn't for everyone, but I thought it was endearing and felt good about myself for realizing what a fabulous little nerd he was.
Well, after over 10 years of marriage, he's still no closer to being the suave guy or the man's man. But...he's a real man. He's loving, affectionate, and above all, he's accepting of his sons' obstacles. It's surprising how many dads aren't. These other men love their children, I'm sure, but many spectrum dads take longer to come out of the denial stage. Greg jumped in the boat fairly quickly, however. At play dates and parties, Greg is running around with the boys trying to orchestrate games that the other kids will want to play. He is often at the bottom of a kiddie pile-on or trudging across the lawn with any number of children trying to tackle him. But he takes it in stride because it just might help his sons feel like one of the gang.
His type B- personality is the perfect foil to my type A+. He is strong for me when I'm tired and supportive of my every move. His goofiness often brings laughter to our table and lightens our heavy load. But...my Greg is eccentric, too.
He's always been an emotional chameleon, losing weight when I'm on a diet, getting morning sickness when I was pregnant. The other night, I was talking to him about all of the tics I had observed SMILE do that day. And then...he ticed. Right in front of me, he did a little head jerk identical to SMILE's most prominent tic. I was hysterical. Now, apparently, he has Tourette's. I told him he needs to stop, that the tic disorder card has been taken off the table, and SMILE's the only one who gets to do it.
But I love him so much and the boys want to grow up to be just like him. Which would be fine with me.
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