DPP2014, #9: Pink

I’ve always told myself that I’m not going to be one of those dads, the kind who finds sadistic joy in striking the fear of God into the hearts of any boys who even look his daughter’s way. Yes, I want to protect my daughter, but that kind of ultra-macho protectiveness has always struck me as condescending, disrespectful, and even potentially counter-productive. And yet…

Today, my daughter got her fingernails painted (or “pinked” as she put it) for the first time, which made me realize she’s growing up and that someday she’ll be a woman, and so help me, I started feeling pretty darn protective. She’s not even in preschool yet, but she’ll be a teenager before I know it, and Lord help me then.