Most days my daughter has some small work of art in her hands at the school gate. A piece of A4 paper revealing a roughly coloured bunny or a ragged splat of paint. She taunts me with them. “Ooh, is that for me?” I ask hopefully. “No daddy. This one's for … mummy”, she replies, matter-of-factly. “Oh”, I say, downhearted. Then she produces another one from behind her back and says without a flicker “And this one’s for ….” I brighten momentarily, “…me.”
There’s never one for me. Yesterday she said she had one for me, but that it was still at school. It’s become a daily routine. I don’t know whether she sees it all as humorous or if it’s simply that by my ever-presence I don’t rate such gestures. It does make me a little sad though. I want to be given something just for me. As it is I have to steal other people’s pictures to fix on my pinboard. I probably made a mistake by showing my disappointment the first time it happened and she fastened onto it as a little battle she can win in a war in which I generally have the upper hand. In the difficult and confusing world children inhabit, these victories must mean a lot.
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9 comments:
It's funny, isn't it, how such a small thing like that can make you feel a bit redundant? In our house, the battle is currently over who gets to sit next to me at tea-time (I have three loud little darlings) which is a bit tiresome but makes me feel appreciated at least. However, I know that if there's a sudden switch to fighting over sitting by DADDY, I will feel a bit miffed.
We're such sensitive creatures, our parents, even if our kids aren't!
This may be the case now, but I reckon she'll grow up into a real daddy's girl because you are her constancy...
Get her to do a special drawing just for you then scan it in and use it as your desktop wallpaper...once she sees her art in lights she may do you a few more? You could shamelessly bribe her into doing it by offering some brand new (washable) felt tips...
Your daughter has clearly learned to "treat 'em mean, and keep 'em keen"
Oh SAHD, she clearly has you wrapped around her lovely little finger.
Hello Lucy. Ah but the battle is always over mummy. Anything else is a great compliment to a dad.
I'm hugely jealous and congratulations on your book, by the way. It's my dream to do a Waterstones signing. And there's no need for shame if there's no queue: you can just call it a stock signing instead...
Thanks for coming!
M&M, DM and Pig, aren't you on a girls' night out over at DM's place?!
M&M - is that a good thing though?
Pig - bribery. yes, that's the way to go!
DM, I used to have her in check but she does seem to be growing in canniness..
Sahd, you could have joined us over at DM's (the Chablis was gooood), always handy to have the male take on getting it on with the boss?!
I did drop by but thought I'd stumbled in on somebody's hen night!
Dear SAHD - we might have thought you were the stripper.
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