We woke up Sunday morning and the first thing Rhett said to me was, “You better post about me on Instagram.” Out of character, this demand struck me as odd until I fully woke up to the realization that it was Father’s Day.
Of course I would post about him. What else would a loving wife do? After all, I can’t think of another way, let alone a better way, to show my appreciation for all he does for our kids. I told him I would get right on that while he took our restless son downstairs and started the morning routine by himself.
While I scrolled through my recent photos, I languished over the fact that we had very few pictures of all of our recent adventures. It was like they never happened. What was the point of him even being there if it wasn’t documented? I finally found a picture of him in the pool with both of our kids. It would have to do, since we were too busy enjoying any other more picturesque recent events. As I cropped and filtered the photo, I wished someone had told me to stop being so “present” and take more pictures. Find better lighting, at least.
To the sound of Super Dad making his own Father’s Day breakfast downstairs, I turned my attention to the caption.
This part was important.
This was the part EVERYONE would read.
These few sentences would define my husband, the father of my children, for the next 365 days until I got another chance. There would be no do-overs, only threat of offense and disappointment.
“I have a wonderful…” No, no. Cliche.
“Parenting is so hard. I can’t imagine doing it without my amazing…” Except a lot of days I did. Couldn’t write that, too bitter.
“This man is Super Dad.” It struck me how many Super Dads I had seen on my feed already today.
My desire for originality and honesty was crippling. I saved the post as a draft and came up for air.
Throughout the day we did some stuff, went places, saw some people, if I remember right. I think Rhett had a good day; I’ll ask him next time I get a chance. But I could barely see past the ghost of my unfinished IG post. I finally settled on a quote, a list of Rhett’s recent shining fatherhood moments, and released the post into the wild to collect likes as fast as it could.
And there it sits, in the archives of Instagram Father’s Day, 2019. It remains to be seen whether it will receive enough attention to allow Rhett to measure up to the other dads in our circles. Maybe I will untag him in case the post fails. I’m not sure he can handle that kind of rejection. I mean, sure. I love him. His kids worship him. But is that really enough?
