Little Girls and their Daddies
The conversation always goes the same:
"Can you say mama?"
"...DADA!"
"But can you say...MAMA?"
"Dada...dada! Dada!"
Her voice is like real whipped cream - light and sweet and genuine - yummy. Her "D's" are still sort of latin sounding - somewhere between a "D" and a "TH", and she says it like she's telling me something new that I don't already know. Her earnestness delights me and I laugh out loud every time, guaranteeing that I probably won't hear "mama" from her until she's about 13. She loves her daddy.
It also delights me to see her relationship with her daddy and think about what it will become. She's a lucky one - she's got the best daddy imaginable. I remember when we found out we were having a girl and he rolled his eyes and groaned. "Great, now there's going to be 2 people in the house who have me wrapped around their fingers." It's ... the truth.
Also true, I know very few women who don't adore their daddies. I know a few with fathers who are womanizers, misers or...well, pimps. That's true - those women don't adore their daddies so much, but most of us do. Take me for example. I got another one of the best daddies imaginable. Here's some of the things my dad taught me that I'll never forget:
1. Don't rely on other people for your happiness - you'll never be happy.
2. If you're screwing two pieces of wood together, you need to drill a hole in the first one, big enough so that the threads of the screw will not bite into it. That way the two boards will flush up together nice and tight when you tighten the screw.
3. Anything you can do that requires a helmet to do is a good thing.
4. How to change my own car tire (bike tire too). As a teenager, this one really irked me when I knew he could just do it for me. But it has served me well over the years to impress various male companions and would be do-gooders. (Not to mention thwarting potential bad guys preying on damsels in distress.)
5. Nothing is worth staying mad about (notice I say 'staying' mad - getting mad, no problem...)
6. Family comes first.
I wonder what my husband will teach our daughter that will stay with her forever. That part of the journey is still to come.
Oh, one more thing. This morning when I brought her downstairs to see her daddy, he asked her "what does 'Eema' mean?"
"Mama..." It was like swimming in whipped cream. He taught her that last night while I was out.
"Can you say mama?"
"...DADA!"
"But can you say...MAMA?"
"Dada...dada! Dada!"
Her voice is like real whipped cream - light and sweet and genuine - yummy. Her "D's" are still sort of latin sounding - somewhere between a "D" and a "TH", and she says it like she's telling me something new that I don't already know. Her earnestness delights me and I laugh out loud every time, guaranteeing that I probably won't hear "mama" from her until she's about 13. She loves her daddy.
It also delights me to see her relationship with her daddy and think about what it will become. She's a lucky one - she's got the best daddy imaginable. I remember when we found out we were having a girl and he rolled his eyes and groaned. "Great, now there's going to be 2 people in the house who have me wrapped around their fingers." It's ... the truth.
Also true, I know very few women who don't adore their daddies. I know a few with fathers who are womanizers, misers or...well, pimps. That's true - those women don't adore their daddies so much, but most of us do. Take me for example. I got another one of the best daddies imaginable. Here's some of the things my dad taught me that I'll never forget:
1. Don't rely on other people for your happiness - you'll never be happy.
2. If you're screwing two pieces of wood together, you need to drill a hole in the first one, big enough so that the threads of the screw will not bite into it. That way the two boards will flush up together nice and tight when you tighten the screw.
3. Anything you can do that requires a helmet to do is a good thing.
4. How to change my own car tire (bike tire too). As a teenager, this one really irked me when I knew he could just do it for me. But it has served me well over the years to impress various male companions and would be do-gooders. (Not to mention thwarting potential bad guys preying on damsels in distress.)
5. Nothing is worth staying mad about (notice I say 'staying' mad - getting mad, no problem...)
6. Family comes first.
I wonder what my husband will teach our daughter that will stay with her forever. That part of the journey is still to come.
Oh, one more thing. This morning when I brought her downstairs to see her daddy, he asked her "what does 'Eema' mean?"
"Mama..." It was like swimming in whipped cream. He taught her that last night while I was out.
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