This Military Dad Proves That All Kids Deserve Tea Parties With Their Fathers — Even Little Boys

For one military dad, time is precious — especially when it involves his kids.

Over the past four years, since Brett Joyce joined the Navy, he's missed out on important moments as his family's expanded. From birthdays and holidays to doctor's appointments and speech therapy meetings, Brett's wife, Tiffany, tries to keep him as updated as possible through technology, but it can still be hard on this father of two and his family. While their oldest child, 2-year-old Oliver, doesn't really understand that his dad leaves a lot, Tiffany already sees how it impacts her son. "We try our hardest to do things together as a family, but no one can deny that my son is more a momma's boy, and I can't help but think it's because I'm always here," Tiffany told POPSUGAR.

When Brett is around, they understandably try to make the most of their time together. Instead of worrying about gender-stereotypical activities, the parents put more value in the quality time they are able to spend together. "My husband and I are all about acceptance and promoting a gender-neutral concept of play," Tiffany explained.

This Summer, that meant letting Oliver partake in a special tea party with his dad, while Tiffany, who also happens to be a talented photographer, captured the meaningful memories. "It was never an issue doing a tea party together with my son. I couldn't be more proud of my husband's open mind and compassion to let our son just be a kid and play without worry of 'playing with girl toys,'" Tiffany added. "My beautiful 2-year-old just had a blast pouring tea for Daddy!"