My husband and I just took our first kid-free vacation. It helped me realize how much he’s changed since becoming a father.

• My husband and I just went on our first vacation without our kids.
• We left them with my mother-in-law and headed to NYC, where we used to live.
• We reminisced about past chapters of our lives, and talked about what’s coming next, too.

“I can’t even remember the last time I and how cute their daughter was and how they were doing a great job — the most important job, the most fulfilling job. It’s all worth it: the demand, the stress, the love, the joy, he expressed.

I then realized as he rhapsodized about the roller-coaster that is parenting, that just as I had become a mother, he had become a father. Yes, my experience of matrescence was my own and forever altered my mind, my body, and my soul, but my husband, my life partner, was forever changed, too.

His body became our children’s play yard. His mind became cluttered with real concerns, fears, and worries about our world and our girls’ place in it. His soul expanded and continues to expand daily through our daughters’ tight embraces, sloppy kisses, and “I love you, Dada”s.

After that happy exchange with the tiny family, we continued our walk. I wrapped my arm around my husband’s waist, tears welling in my eyes. I’m so proud of this person. I’m so proud of us. And, though I miss the “old us,” I’m enjoying the “present us” — and looking forward to the “future us,” too.