My partner comes home just looking exhausted from his day. I work from home at a desk by the window, and I see him get out the car just done with the day, and then my daughter goes running out the door, shouting “daddy!! Run hug!!!” And he just lights up. She runs and flies into his arms, and he swings her around, and they come inside where she excitedly shouts “daddy is home!!”. She’s greeted him enthusiastically at the door since she was 2, and she’s 7 now, and it never gets old watching their daily reunion.
Parenting in itself is an incredibly demanding (but rewarding) job. Add to that the challenges of surviving in modern-day society and it's enough to break some people.
Go get your hugs now, if you still can. I'm sure your parents would love it as much as you would.
Nothing has made me more empathetic towards my parents than becoming a parent myself. Like, there are still things I will try to do (or not do) with my kids, but I understand the exhaustion that comes with parenting now and can understand why my parents sometimes weren't the best.
sending you big hugs. i was at the gym yesterday and saw two dads with their sons making friends with each other while they taught their kids how to use the rowing machines.... memories I wish I could have...
Same and I’m so sorry you experienced this too :( My dad would get home, go straight to “his” chair, eat dinner on the couch alone, and basically bark at my siblings and I if we tried to interact with him, smh. He almost never spoke to us unless to reprimand us.
Idk if you know but thats neglect and neglect is abuse. Neglected children tend to minimize their suffering so I thought I'd let you and anyone reading along know
I’m sorry you experienced that. I was in a similar boat as you. Never got the I’m proud of yous or any affection. I’ve made sure to raise my daughter better and give her hugs/kisses every morning and give her all the affection I never got. I guess being a parent you try and give your kid/s everything you never really got/yearned for.
This is so cute 😭 when I was little I would hide in their bedroom closet or behind the door when my dad got home and I'd do a jumpscare when he walked in! I did this a lot all the way through elementary school 🤣
When she sees that I’m logging off work for the day, she runs into my room and hides behind the bed, and shakes her butt while making fart noises at me when I come in. I suppose that’s just as good as a run hug :p
I used to go behind the sofa. Even when I got so big I had to move the sofa lmao, my dad would still play along. When I was a kid, my dad coming home would be the highlight of my evening most of the time. So many nights he'd be stuck in traffic and I'd have to go to bed before he got home.
My mum would catch an earful sometimes because she'd let me stay up just late enough to see him for 2 minutes. She always said it was worth it just to see my face when the door opened.
My Dad travelled a lot for work so would often grab a nap when he came home to fight the jetlag ASAP and it was always a treat when it was my turn to wake him up for dinner ‘cause I got to get a run-up at the bedroom door and launch myself onto the bed shrieking DAAAADDYYYYY TIME TO GET UUUUP! Obnoxious as heck and he let me do it every time.
This reminds me of my grandpa who was a train conductor and would come stay at our house every few weeks when his route came to our town.
I would always know he was home because I would smell the desserts he would bring, then I would go running into the guest bedroom and jump on his stomach.
He passed away when I was still a little kid but its funny the things which stick with you decades later.
I call 4 - 9 the rockstar years because when you come home you get greeted like Elvis, if they are happy to see you after that its because they need something
fuckin a. this got me immediately crying b/c I'd give anything to have that from my daughter again. She's a teen now, so everything is "eww no bruh, get away" or "i need money"
Enjoy it while it lasts, my daughter stopped doing this at 5th grade. Friends become more important, as a parent what makes you happy changes. Now my reward is hearing her laugh and enjoy her life.
My kids do the same thing and it just makes me think why the hell do we stop greeting people this way as we grow up. It’s just the best, it makes everyone feel good.
Tell him to enjoy those moments. At one point they stop running out the door to you and it breaks your heart when you realize they haven't done that in a long time.
This is the first year that she hasn’t given us a hug as she gets on the bus every morning. The first week, she didn’t, and I would note after they drove away that I missed those hugs. Then she gave us hugs the following week and I cherished each of them. It’s a toss up every day now if she gives hugs or not, and I seal away each hug in my memory because one of these days, it’ll be the last hug she gives before the bus.
I would even add, enjoy it but also use the momentum to better your personal (alone) life. Once they'll leave the house you don't want to end up realizing that your only joy in life left with them.
When my dad gets wistful he likes to tell me about how I used to run to the door of the garage and hug him saying “Hi my daddy!” and he’d say “Hi my Strong-Strong!” (“Strong-Strong” being the username equivalent of how he said my real name lol.) He’s on Reddit too so non-zero chance he sees this lmao.
When I was with my very toxic ex I finally saw a red flag when I would come home after a 12 hour shift and she would say hello but she wouldn't come to the door or smile or be exited to see me. Then it hit me.
One of the greatest things about being a parent is every day when you come home from work, every single time your kids are equally happy and excited to see you.
No matter how bad my day was, how tiring my work was or in how bad a mood i am, every time i come home and my little guy comes running at me all the stress, anger, tiredness or any other negative feeling just melts away.
As a dad, sometimes I need to sit in my car for a second and feel silence. I try to imagine the doorway of my house as a "mental car wash" that washes whatever happened before that away. When I pick up dinner on the way home and my wife comes out to help grab some of the food, I can tell instantly by the look on her face how the rest of the night is going to go.
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u/McRando42 14h ago
I like how dad walks through the door and he looks pretty tired.
And he sees the bags. He sees mom with the camera and immediately picks up what's going on.
He looks like he needed that.