In the year 2004 Howard left a job that paid over $100,000 per year to become a full time cartoonist. When a company pays you that much money, they expect a large portion of your life in return. Howard finally reached the point where he was no longer willing to trade life for money. I fully supported his choice to quit. It was totally the right decision. I got to watch with joy as our family restructured around having a Daddy who works from home. I got to watch Howard really be a Daddy.
What can I say about Howard as a father? He’s the kind of dad who cooks for his kids and then loves to watch them eat. He brings home treats from the grocery store just because a certain child will like it. He takes time out of his schedule to take each of the kids on an individual outing. The kids love these “dates” even if they’re only going to Sam’s Club. He frequently calls me from conventions because he found something there that one of the kids will like and wants to buy it. He plays tickle games with the kids. He lets the kids sit at his elbows while he colors comic strips. He keeps toys in his office so they can play there quietly. He also knows how to use his daddy voice to good effect to keep the kids in line. The kids don’t like that so much, but they need it. When Howard is gone at a convention I’m always fielding questions about where he is and when he’ll come home.
Howard frequently bemoans the fact that he isn’t a better father. I think this bemoaning is actually a measure of how excellent he is at being a father. Complacency and excellence to not often coexist.
I’m so very glad to have Howard as husband and father to my kids.
I like the comic strip even better now, imagining a little kid sitting by, watching it being created. What a great image.
I’ve often observed that the ones who worry about how good they are at parenting (morthering or fathering) often are the ones who shouldn’t be worrying about how they are doing.
If/when I finally end up married and with kids, I suspect I’ll be reading through all thses posts of yours for parenting tips…
I read your LJ post about three minutes before I read this one from Sandra. The juxtaposition was… stark.
Not sure what more to say, though I’m crying as I type.
Aw, Howard, thank you for caring so much, but I didn’t mean to make anyone cry! I just felt like it was a personal truth I wanted to put out into the world instead of keeping it secret.
It’s so important to me to know that there are families, and fathers, like you and yours in the world. Seeing families that love each other and parents who are so wonderful with their kids helps me get perspective on my own family life, to understand what was wrong and what I need to do for myself to fix the problems it left me with. It also makes me happy!