Daddies & Daughters

It's been said many a time that a father is a daughter's very first love.  I myself have a great dad, and though we have had our moments, I can truly say that there really is a special bond between daddies and their daughters.
I don't know why it is, but sometimes dads are just easier to get along with.  (Though you can bet your butt that when I am sick, to this day, I still want my mom!)  In my case, I think it had something to do with the roles in our family.  My dad worked outside of the house, oftentimes putting in 60 hours a week or more.  My mom was the consummate stay at home mom who did it all-and the primary disciplinarian.  I think that made the scales tip a little more in Dad's favor-he got to be the "fun one" a lot more than Mom did.  (Sorry, Mom!)
I see it more and more with my own daughters.  When I am gone for the day and my husband is home with his girls, anything goes.  It can be two in the afternoon, and they are still in their pjs, hair untouched by any comb or barrette, bellies full of Pop-Tarts, Funyuns, and cookies.  Daddy is the one that turns on the Wii and plays RockBand, to their delight.  (He says it's for them, but we all know he really wants to play too.)  He can also be easily swayed into getting Culver's for dinner, followed up with a yummy ice cream creation from ColdStone. 
I would be wrong if I said that this wasn't head-shakingly frustrating at times.  I find myself thinking 'Hey, I get you dressed and do your hair and find educational activities and try to feed you balanced meals and, and, and..'  But the girls love every minute of it, of course.  And I do think that Madi, at the ripe old age of 6, has started to learn the fine art of getting her way, batting her super-long eyelashes at her daddy.  Which is why you will find Noel playing tea party, dressing Barbies, and painting fingernails.  (He's actually quite good at that!)  He is learning to do girls' hair, even if it does take him what seems like an eon to put Madi's hair in a ponytail.  He knows the names of all the Disney princesses, and can probably sing along with any of their movies.  Noel's world is one of sparkly pink things, clouds of glitter, and plastic high heels.
They say that when a girl marries, she looks to find someone that is like her dad.  My dad and Noel are a lot alike, but in many ways are very different.  I don't think my dad would have been caught dead in a tutu, something I have seen Noel do more than once.  (Now, if his granddaughter asked him to, that might be a different story.)  I would never have asked him to paint my nails-he wouldn't have known what to do with himself.  We did, however, sculpt many an awesome Play-Doh creation together, and don't even get me started on our puzzle-building skills.
My dad had two sons after I was born, so he got his fair share of all things boy.   Noel, though, won't get that chance, as our two daughters are it for us.  Luckily, Madi & Sydney also enjoy baseball, monster trucks, rock music, dirt, and all the stereotypical boy things too, even though they prefer frills and lace.
 Good thing Noel wears it well.

The father of a daughter is nothing but a high-class hostage. A father turns a stony face to his sons, berates them, shakes his antlers, paws the ground, snorts, runs them off into the underbrush, but when his daughter puts her arm over his shoulder and says, "Daddy, I need to ask you something," he is a pat of butter in a hot frying pan.
~ Garrison Keillor