The Way I See It - Fatherhood and little girls
The Way I See It
By Doug Dickerson
June 13, 2007
Fatherhood and little girls
A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again.
-Enid Bagnold
Father’s Day is this weekend and I would first like to take this opportunity to wish my father back in Tennessee a special day. Besides working hard to provide for our family, (putting three of us through college), going to countless ballgames, camping trips to the mountains, he served as a role model in so many ways.
Dad is a kind, caring man, who also taught us how to look out for others. I remember on more than one occasion when he came home wearing no shoes because he saw someone without any, and he gave them his.
Dad’s humor has always been a defining characteristic. He enjoys a good practical joke, and keeps everyone laughing. Happy Father’s Day Dad!
As a father of two girls, there is never a dull moment in our household. As the lone male in the house, minus our neutered cat, Riley, I get to observe life in high drama. There are some things that I will never understand about living in the house of estrogen, but I plod on. For example, in my bathroom there are about six or seven basic essentials that I feel are important: a toothbrush, hairbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, razor, shaving cream, and deodorant. In the girl’s bathroom, there are hundreds of things, I dare not ask what or why.
As a father, I continually observe these differences on a regular basis. Take for example the use of the phone. As a typical male, I see the phone as merely a communication tool- a means to an end, and the sooner the better. The women of the house, on the other hand, can talk, text, and God only knows what else, with dexterity that would qualify them for the Ringling Brothers Circus. Curious to know why my cell phone bill was unusually high a few months ago, I called our service provider. The kind lady on the other end of the phone told me that one of the cell phone numbers, traced back to my oldest daughter, had gone over the limit on text messaging. “How far over?” I inquired. “On your plan”, she said, “You get 300 text messages a month. Your daughter had 975.” Gulp!
While there are still many things I don’t have a grip on yet with this fathering business, I might have this one figured out. I reported in this column back in December that London’s Daily Mail carried a news story that affirmed what so many have suspected for a long time. It was hardly a news flash, but they reported that women really do talk more than men. According to the research, women talk almost three times as much as men, with the average woman talking up to 20, 000 words in a day - 13,000 more than men. I calculated this and the best I can figure, in my house with the wife and two daughters, I am outspoken 60,000 words to 7,000 words daily. I had to make it known to my daughter, that while she has a lot of words dying to get out, it might be cheaper to speak them than text them.
Being the father of two girls, in light of all the crazy things that go on, is a real treat. Watching them grow from those cute little girls into those pretty young ladies is quite a joy. The house is filled with a lot of fun, laughter, practical jokes, activities and love. It reminds me a lot of Tennessee.
By Doug Dickerson
June 13, 2007
Fatherhood and little girls
A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again.
-Enid Bagnold
Father’s Day is this weekend and I would first like to take this opportunity to wish my father back in Tennessee a special day. Besides working hard to provide for our family, (putting three of us through college), going to countless ballgames, camping trips to the mountains, he served as a role model in so many ways.
Dad is a kind, caring man, who also taught us how to look out for others. I remember on more than one occasion when he came home wearing no shoes because he saw someone without any, and he gave them his.
Dad’s humor has always been a defining characteristic. He enjoys a good practical joke, and keeps everyone laughing. Happy Father’s Day Dad!
As a father of two girls, there is never a dull moment in our household. As the lone male in the house, minus our neutered cat, Riley, I get to observe life in high drama. There are some things that I will never understand about living in the house of estrogen, but I plod on. For example, in my bathroom there are about six or seven basic essentials that I feel are important: a toothbrush, hairbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, razor, shaving cream, and deodorant. In the girl’s bathroom, there are hundreds of things, I dare not ask what or why.
As a father, I continually observe these differences on a regular basis. Take for example the use of the phone. As a typical male, I see the phone as merely a communication tool- a means to an end, and the sooner the better. The women of the house, on the other hand, can talk, text, and God only knows what else, with dexterity that would qualify them for the Ringling Brothers Circus. Curious to know why my cell phone bill was unusually high a few months ago, I called our service provider. The kind lady on the other end of the phone told me that one of the cell phone numbers, traced back to my oldest daughter, had gone over the limit on text messaging. “How far over?” I inquired. “On your plan”, she said, “You get 300 text messages a month. Your daughter had 975.” Gulp!
While there are still many things I don’t have a grip on yet with this fathering business, I might have this one figured out. I reported in this column back in December that London’s Daily Mail carried a news story that affirmed what so many have suspected for a long time. It was hardly a news flash, but they reported that women really do talk more than men. According to the research, women talk almost three times as much as men, with the average woman talking up to 20, 000 words in a day - 13,000 more than men. I calculated this and the best I can figure, in my house with the wife and two daughters, I am outspoken 60,000 words to 7,000 words daily. I had to make it known to my daughter, that while she has a lot of words dying to get out, it might be cheaper to speak them than text them.
Being the father of two girls, in light of all the crazy things that go on, is a real treat. Watching them grow from those cute little girls into those pretty young ladies is quite a joy. The house is filled with a lot of fun, laughter, practical jokes, activities and love. It reminds me a lot of Tennessee.
posted by Doug Dickerson | 8:30 AM
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