Daddy's Girls

Just recently, my girlfriend, Busy, and I went on our annual girls getaway trip. After being gone all weekend, I was excited to see my daughters, Lovey and Sweet Pea. I missed them very much, and I was under the impression that they felt the same (well, maybe not Lovey, she is nineteen months old and doesn't know what the hell is going on, but Sweet Pea is almost four and she for sure knew I was gone). When I finally got home, weary from traveling and looking for love, Lovey was napping but Sweet Pea was up. I couldn't wait until we saw each other. My vision of our long-awaited reunion was about to be realized.

I walked in the door, put my bags down, and called for her. As she slowly came around the corner, her little fist holding something, (something that she made for me, I'm sure) I was all excited for my hug and my treat...but what I got was a loaded hand in my face accompanied by: "Mommy, can I have this gum?"

I'm sorry. WHAT? Gum? I didn't just walk out of my freakin' bedroom, dude. I HAVE BEEN GONE ALL WEEKEND. No. There will be no gum for you.

Cody, my husband, will run out for twenty mintues--but when he walks in, the girls go so crazy you would think they just jumped out from behind the lyrics of a Kenny Chesney song. "Dah-dee! Dah-dee! Da-dee!" OK, I get it. He is very cool and I'm excited to see him too, but what about me? Why are you guys never as excited to see me? I AM AWESOME.

It is true, I am with them more because I work from home, but that doesn't explain anything. I'm still awesome. I don't get down on the floor and turn myself into a human jungle gym like Captain Goodtimes over there, but I'm somewhere in the vicinity being awesome. I don't go out in twenty degree weather and build a snowman with them, but who was inside, being awesome, making hot chocolate WITH marshmallows? You got it: Mamacita Awesima.

It's a constant struggle because the practical, mature part of me really and truly wants my girls to be all about their daddy. He is an amazing daddy and he, for all intents and purposes, should be the one they look to for many things. He is supposed to be their hero. But, as someone who giggles uncontrollably because a poster board has been priced at .69 cents, I am admittedly often times very immature, so that part leads me to be a little envious of the fanfare he receives.

Kids go back and forth; parental partiality is part of a natural cycle. I know that. I'm not a total idiot. I know that it's normal to temporarily prefer one parent over the other. It could be because one parent is more of a disciplinarian, it could be because one parent just sucks. Who knows? That being said, I also think that it's normal to be hurt when you're not the parent they prefer (especially if you're awesome, like me).

I know, many years from now, there will come a day when one of my girls will get dumped by some loser. This guy will blindside her, in the middle of a seemingly pleasant dinner, by telling her that he is just "not having fun anymore." He will then go on to say that he "thinks they should no longer see each other" while she sits behind a half eaten deli sandwich, completely stunned and bewildered, because HE is the one breaking up with HER. Back that ass up. He can NOT break up with her. He was the one who pursued her--and she wasn't even that into him! He wore his jeans too high and he thought socks with sandals was cool and uh...that unibrow ain't gonna tweeze itself and he said words like "anywho" and whatever, it just SUCKS because even though she knew she didn't dig him, HE WAS THE ONE WHO GOT TO BREAK IT OFF.

That kind of thing might happen to one of my girls one day. And if it does, I hope that she calls her mommy.