My Princess: Big hearted, sassy, wild child that she is, she is also The Man's shadow. Since she was old enough to focus in on his gorgeous face, she was a goner. He was the sun in her sky and I was the cow, umm nourishment.
She may look more like me, but her very entrance into a world where men in The Man's family DO NOT have daughters (in like four generations) surprised and delighted everyone. The Man was thoroughly confused for the first few months on what exactly to do with her. You see, she was too young to wrestle with, she was too pretty to throw a ball at (gasp, what if he hit her face???) and well she wasn't a boy. When she was six months old, a little fat ball of slobber and cheeks, The Man left for deployment. Six months of getting pictures occasionally and listening to her utter her first word, dada, over the phone convinced him that she was the most perfect creature ever born. So before he came home, literally the night before as he called me from about two miles from the port where we would meet up the next day, he knew just what to do with her....I'll treat her the same way I would a boy. Oh and I'll dress her cute too. Problem solved.
True to his word, he wrestled with her at 18 mths old, he dressed her up for her first real photo shoot (ain't she too cute in that jersey) and when she was four he began taking her out hunting. See hunting in his family is as natural as breathing. Problem? Go hunting. Moody? Go hunting. Bored? Go hunting. This is how he survives, having time in nature, just him (and her) and his trusty gun. So when he worked on the ranch tracking animals, skinning deer and running tractors, she begged to go one weekend a month too. So she took her pink camouflaged hunting clothes (yeah he bagged nothing with her around) and learned to pee outside and be "one of the boys". It was great.
So that background being told, today at Parent-Teacher conference I was anxious about how she is settling into her new school. Princess is doing great! Grades are awesome, teacher had great things to say and he had a pile of papers she'd written. One stood out from the rest. It broke my heart and I mourned the idea of sharing the news with The Man. Poor guy.
So here is her story:
"What Should Never Have Been Invented" By Princess. I think guns should never have been invented. They are used by humans to kill animals. I love animals and I think it is wrong to turn the animal into a jacket by using it's skin.
The Man didn't take this well at all. See now we face the issue that our baby, our first born, is old enough to have opinions of her own. However, we are stanch believers in the rights of hunters and we own guns. Period. I shoot, The Man shoots and we both do it well. Princess even owns her very own BB gun. So The Man, via phone since he is gone training, attempted to delve into this somewhat.
Sigh!!!!!! Well we're letting it go for now. Going to see where this leads but I really did hear his heart breaking over the distance of the phone line.
At what point do you try to re-shape your child's' opinions? Do you even try? Or do you just let them know your thoughts on it? Yes, I own leather, no I could never work around the processing, I prefer ignorance. There is a difference to me. Call me small minded but I have my own limitations. But dang, she loved hunting and being with him out there! Or so we though.
Parenting is tough! Isn't she cute, maybe I should show her this picture again, she rides a good bull. Oh and no commenting on my appearance in this, at all! :)
So that background being told, today at Parent-Teacher conference I was anxious about how she is settling into her new school. Princess is doing great! Grades are awesome, teacher had great things to say and he had a pile of papers she'd written. One stood out from the rest. It broke my heart and I mourned the idea of sharing the news with The Man. Poor guy.
