By Jennifer
Chuck has finally given in to the fact that he has daughters. He has daughters -- and how. He's had his nails painted and his scruffy boy hair tied up in pony tails. Two rooms in our house are pink and one is purple. There are no matchbox cars and no GI Joes, only Barbies and Groovy Girls to keep Kate's collection of stuffed poodles company. They do all enjoy getting muddy and dirty, which would be a plus, except he usually has to help clean them up.
This has all been cute and laughable and has brought on more than enough dumb comments from total strangers. He's aware that there will probably be (at least) four weddings to pay for in the future and four teenage girls in our house all at one time. Yes, menstrual cycles will collide.
He's also aware that he'll have four loving daughters to care for him if I go first. He'll have four daughters to walk down the aisle, four daughters to cheer on through high school and college.
He is so good at being their Dad. He's patient and funny and he puts them to bed every night with a book. The twins say Da-Da way more than they say Ma-Ma, and they practically push me out of the way when he walks in the door at the end of the day.
He's building a playhouse for his little girls. As an architect it's something he's been talking about since Mary was born 6 years ago, and honestly I never really believed it would happen. He's built it completely by himself -- we're not sure how, but he has. It's going to be the best playhouse ever. It's two stories with a loft and a front porch and a picket fence. I told him the other day that I wished I was a little girl again and he was my Dad. It's that good.
We were looking at a house down the street that was for sale, and as I told the older girls about it, Mary looked up startled and said, "But what about our playhouse!?" "Well," I said, "we'll be doing work on the new house and we'll just get them to build you guys a cool new playhouse at the same time!"
Mary replied with tears in her eyes, "But it won't be the same as the one that Daddy made using his own two hands."
Good point.
Oh my GOD: This is the absolutely best post I've read in a long time. It actually made me bawl here at work.
Thank you for making me smile and cry all at the same time..
Posted by: amy | April 13, 2005 at 08:50 AM
Just to provide another view re: the paying for weddings issue. We have a daugther and fully intend to foot the bill for her wedding. Do we have to? Of course not. But it would be our honor to do so. My husband and I (with help from his folks) paid for our own and my widowed mother kept saying how sorry she was to be unable to pay for it. Of course, we wouldn't have dreamed of taking her money. But I hope we'll be in a position to pay for Ella's wedding when the day comes!
Posted by: Peyton | April 11, 2005 at 06:09 PM
Depends on who they marry. In some cultures, the guy's family foots the bill. :-)
What a sweet story, Jennifer. When (if?) we have a daughter, I can't wait to see how my husband will adapt. He's an only child so he'll have a lot to learn!
Posted by: Kat | April 11, 2005 at 10:10 AM
Hopefully that outdated misogynist paying for weddings thing will be done by the time our daughters get married.
Posted by: Dori | April 11, 2005 at 09:39 AM