I don’t have children of my own, other than my fur baby Paisley, but I’ve been blessed enough to become a “Bonus Mom” to my boyfriend’s beautiful, vivacious little girl. We use the term Bonus Mom after a friend mentioned it to us after seeing the three of us together at lunch. By no means am I trying to take the place of her actual mother, I’m just an extra helping hand who is here to give her as much love and light as possible. I like being able to buy her princess outfits or comfort her when she just needs a woman’s energy. And I pray that as she continues to grow and our relationship flourishes, I can be someone she goes to for advice about boys or what to wear to the school dance.

But here’s why I care about this amazing little human being so much – her father! Yes she’s a spunky little girl with the best smile ever, but her joyous spirit comes from her mother (who I will give mad props to for raising such a great little girl) and her father. Even when life hits hard and co-parenting with someone you’re no longer in a relationship with gets tough, he smiles through it all. He ONLY wants his beloved daughter to know the good in life and he does everything possible to bring her nothing but joy.

I didn’t have my birth father growing up, so to see him waking up at 5am and hopping on a train to go to an entirely different state to pick her up just brings tears to my eyes. My birth father wouldn’t have even gone a few miles down the road to hang out with me for the day, let alone an entire month. So ladies with “baby daddies” who are co-parenting with men who care, cut them some slack. They truly only want the best for their children.

Parenting is not easy. It’s tiring and expensive but my boyfriend parents his baby girl with pride. He puts his daughter’s best interest first. He’ll always be there to love her and guide her through life and I’m excited to continue to watch him in his journey as a father.

Happy Father’s Day, baby. Dad of the year award goes to you!

**Thanks for reading; you’re F.A.Bulous!**