My daughter likes a boy.

There I said it.

She’s 16 the hormones are harmonizing. Everyday I see her she’s an inch taller and her voice hits a different octave. This is a part of her life that I will sit on the sidelines and cheer for her. Yeah I know I’ve been throwing threats online since the day an ultrasound revealed I was going to be a girl dad.

All the threats.

I have no intention of ever harming someone’s child. I never have. There’s no scare tactics, no chest thumping or any of that shit. He’s a kid. He likes my daughter. That right there tells me he’s a smart kid.

As a father I am my daughter’s protector. I assumed that role the day she was born. I do it dutifully. I do it with love not violence. I don’t want her associating her father with violence regardless of the situation. She’s never seen me lay a hand on anyone and I’d like to think we could go the rest of our lives without it.

I like watching her face light up when she talks about her friend.

It’s puppy love for now y’all. I remember the first time I held a girl’s hand and my first kiss. All in the same night. I was also 16 and absolutely terrified of the opposite sex. I remember that moment like it was yesterday. No I don’t look back on it with any romantic capacity we were kids. It was my junior prom I treated my date like a porcelain doll. I didn’t want to drop and break her, I also did my best not to shake when I held her hand. I remember the warmth, my stomach knotting. I danced like no one was watching, made sure she never had to get her own punch and walked her to back to her door of her cousin’s house where she was staying that night. I brought her home 5 minutes early so her father wouldn’t kill me.

He told me he was going to if I did..

He was joking of course. He was a large man to me but I liked him. I’m actually friends with her on Facebook. She married her high school sweetheart and has been together ever since.

Good folk all around. Her father passed about a decade ago and I reached out to her on messenger and told her the story of his brief convo with me when I picked her up.

Like I said, good folk.

I’m actually friends with most of my exes on here.

I want my daughter’s first introduction into this type of thing to be a positive one. I don’t want her looking over her shoulder wondering when dad will insert his machoism into her life. I’m just the door guy. I check the ID, make sure you’re not carrying anything dangerous and dressed accordingly.

As long as you keep your hands off the staff you’re fine. I could’ve used a better word there.

He’s polite

He takes his shoes off when he comes over

Most importantly he’s respectful towards my daughter. Another plus he likes Johnny Cash. You get extra credit for that one kid.

I want my kid to live a normal life. Love is a part of it. Heartbreak is another important part of it. The first one is always the hardest as is the last. I’ll be there if and when she needs her dad. I’m her protector I’m her big brother too.

Her mother is her confidant, her best friend. We all have two best friends. The one who’s always down for adventure, break shit with, jump off cliffs and high five. The other one is the tell everything friend, the one that lets you cry on their shoulder, checks in on you on a bad day, keeps you straight when you want to go crooked. It’s easy to see which is which with our parenting. It’s the mom you really have to worry about. I’ve almost had to step in between her and some mean teens.

Mama bears are more fierce. Like I said I’m just the door guy. She seems to like the kid too.

I just want my daughter to be happy and live a normal life. I still move all the pointy things out of her path when she walks. This is the only project my ADHD will never allow me to put down or lose interest.

They played video games in our spare room and laughed.

I remember bringing over my first adult girlfriend to my mom’s house when I was 19. We sat on my bed and watched a movie before I took her back home. My mother said she liked her because all she heard was us laughing the whole time we were together.

I get it now.

I know my little girl’s heart will get broken on day. You ride a bike enough eventually you’re gonna fall off. I’ve fallen off a lot of bikes. It never got easier. I’m done with those heartbreaks ma’am y’all can keep em.

I’ve been on both sides they both suck.

But I will be there for her if and when it happens. To show her how to discard the scars over time. Hopefully

I’m excited for my child’s future adventures. I’m slowly pushing the hovering helicopter away.

That’s a tough one for me. There are no handbooks to follow here. A smile for my kid is a smile for me.

That’s all.

Peace.