My daughter's 16th birthday party is today
Years ago when I heard classics like 'you're 16, you're beautiful and
you're mine" or "sixteen candles" or "happy birthday sweet 16" I said
'I'm going to play those songs when my daughter turns 16.
I remember Potsy singing to Joany on Happy Days, on her 16th birthday. I romanticized the idea of one day being a father with a sixteen year old daughter.
I don't know exactly how this happened, the time sort of slipped by. I still feel like there are a lot of things I wish to impact to my daughter.
Where we live, when your child graduates high school, they are sent out into the world on their own. I have less than 2 years left with my daughter under my roof.
My wife and I are entering into that stage of life where so many people have been before us, but we enter it now for the first time.
I'm finding I don't like the idea of her turning 16. I don't like the idea of seeing her in a full length gown. Dads, is this normal?
I'm fighting a strong desire to be grumpy all day. She's growing up. I'm fighting the desire to do the cliche'd dad thing ' I used to hold you and you were no longer than up to my elbow..... how did you grow up so fast?'.....
But at the same time, I am proud of who she is becoming. We get compliments from people about her all the time.
I always told myself I would not be that typical dad who gets all emotional at times like this, but man it's hard not to be.
On a practical side, Kendal is working hard to make this day perfect. They've been planning this party for a year. Our oven is misbehaving and the first attempt at a cake came out horribly. And my wife is an excellent baker, so you know its not her. Kendal has been cooking all day... but not everything is cooperating. I think our oven is dying or something.
I wasn't able to download the birthday songs (playlist) that I wanted, because for some reason my computer is being buggy.
Sydney has a cold.
All this smoke and dust is giving me a sinus infection.
It is one of those days... you want it to be perfect but a lot of things are going wrong...
and you just think 'life is never like the story books, we'll make the best of this that we can.' and you soldier on.
Thankfully, my daughter isn't like some of those kids you see on those reality shows, she's not throwing a fit, she's just adapting along with us and really keeping me from being grumpy because of her good attitude.
She does that a lot. She's awesome that way.
