You don’t have to spend long in the metaphysical world to learn that what we put our attention on grows. (This, of course, is true whether you believe in metaphysics or not. But it helps to believe in it, so you can use it to your benefit.)

The very ground upon which the masculine has stood for eons has been crumbling this year in ways that have required crumbling for quite some time.

And while I feel as vindicated as anyone seeing Larry Nassar get convicted, knowing the truth about Harry Weinstein and Woody Allen, and watching all of the other darkness rising to the surface around men mistreating women, it’s incredibly important to simultaneously celebrate the good guys.

With Father’s Day coming up on Sunday, I wanted to take a moment to honor the good guys, specifically the good dads who are doing it really, really right.

(I’m so blessed to be married to one of them and to have been raised by another.)

Without further ado, here is my ode to the good dads:

To the baby-wearing, bottle-feeding, and even chest-feeding men who wipe the snotty noses and the poopy butts.

To the men who get up in the night when the baby wakes up, not because it’s their turn, but because they care about the little person crying out for comfort.

To the men who make dinner, take out the trash, do the laundry, the grocery shopping, and the dishes, not because you were asked to, but because it needs to be done.

To the tender-hearted men who get teary-eyed when they think about how much they love their kids and aren’t afraid of people knowing it.

To the men who are all in, showing up for the games, the performances, the recitals, and the assemblies and aren’t too cool to be enthusiastic about it.

To the men who are present. Like really and truly there. Who look their kids and their partners in the eye. Who put their devices down. Who give you whatever they’ve got. All of it.

To the men who listen and take their time with their littles and their partners, who aren’t in a hurry, and who know what’s truly important.

To the men who provide financially for their families and to the men who provide emotionally for their families. To the men who protect and nurture.

Thank you for the ways you take care of us. Thank you for the ways you show up. Thank you for opening your hearts and baring your souls.

Thank you for being one of the good guys. I know it can be confusing to know how to show up as a man in today’s climate of upheaval, and I want you to know you’re doing a bang-up job of it.

You may not always get the acknowledgment you deserve, so on behalf of women and children everywhere let me just say:

You rock.

Thank you for the father you are. Thank you for the man that you are. You make this world a better place simply by being exactly who you are.

And I love you.

Share the love:

An ode to good dads everywhere from @katenorthrup 

Know a good dad who could use some acknowledgement? Send this to him. He needs to know you notice.

OVER TO YOU:

What would you like to acknowledge good dads and good men in general for? Tell me and the world in the comments!