I Love My Daughter - and I'll Tell you Why

Her mother and I already had a son who was five years old or so and we'd been less than the ideal couple for quite some time. Then, along came Dina. Quite possibly the only baby in the history of mankind to be born beautiful (forget what all the women say) and she stole my heart. Girls do that don't they. Then reality set in. We had to her bring home, man was that traumatic. You can ask her Mom, but as far as I can remember this little girl entered the house with only one message to convey, "I'm in charge!".

After several months of sleepless nights and ranting to my wife about the screaming and disruption that had entered our lives, (her older brother was a model child, one I would recommend to anyone) I was at my wits end. By the time she was two we'd tried every kind of discipline, short of the rack. She had to sleep with us - amazing how one little girl can take up a queen sized bed - she threw fits when she didn't get her own way - she'd throw herself on the floor and scream to high heaven. We were going nuts. Then we had an epiphany - let her scream! And we did. Dina would start throwing a fit, I'd put her in room, and the louder she screamed the more I'd yell back, "I can't hear you!" Which of course made her yell all the louder. Funny thing is after a little over a week she gave up - we won! And she's been the best daughter a father could hope for ever since. But then she grew up.

I questioned her choice of a husband (an art student, give me a break), but she was right. I questioned the investment in their property. She was right. When I became a Christian and she and her brother had their doubts, she was right. When she accepted the Lord for herself, she was right. Those of us who are traditional in our thinking expect the man to be the bread winner, yet we realize that its the woman that holds a home together and she has. I have nothing but respect for the woman my daughter has become in spite of the poor example I've been in her life. Just goes to show you, how our kids can accomplish way more than we have, we just have to get out of the way.

I've known all this for a long time but it didn't "hit home" until recently. A tete a tete between myself and a co-worker of Dina's on her face book made me realize that, in some respects, she's more mature than her aging father. While she could attack the issue, I fell into the trap of attacking my opponent. My daughter, half the age of a couple of philosophical combatants, put us both in our respective places, and I want to applaud her for that!

We live in a world that is on the verge of collapse and its going to take a lot more than political rhetoric to solve the problems. Its going to take people who are aware of reality, people who know how to conduct their own families, people who are above politics and gamesmanship. There are a lot of people in this country who understand that its not the politicians that are important - its the people. My darling daughter is one of them - would that I were her.

Anyway, here's to you Dina, never let your light dimmer, stand up for what you believe, and most of all be true to yourself. Even it means telling your old man he's nuts!