“I’m Not A Regular Dad, I’m A Girl Dad”

What is a girl-dad? Let me give you my definition.

Girl Dad \gerl dad\: A dad who sheds tears for every chick flick from What A Girl Wants to Sweet Home Alabama. He will reluctantly change the channel from ESPN to ABC because his little girl LOVES the Bachelor! Most importantly, he will call his daughter as she is driving home late at night staying on the phone with her until she walks inside her house.

If you’re wondering where I got this definition from, it’s from my own experience with my dad.

I have always been a Daddy’s Girl (sorry mom)! I know that my dad and I have a very special bond that is unlike any other relationship in my life and I am so unbelievably grateful to have my dad all to myself.

I am my Dad’s only child and a girl so that absolutely makes him a full-blown girl dad! I think we can all agree girl dads are hand picked by God because let’s face it, it takes a very special man to raise and live with #teenagegirlhormones.

Let’s pause here, bow our heads and say a prayer for the men who have experienced this and are still with us today….Amen.

Being a dad to a girl is a very unique job (or at least I think so). I think all dads would agree that the description is lengthy and the fine print should be bold, italicized, underlined and typed in all caps!

There are many sacrifices made when a man becomes a girl dad. Am I right or am I right?

Hunting and fishing trips are traded in for trips to the mall and Target. There’s a 50/50 chance your daughter won’t like sports (cough cough) and she’d rather be in gymnastics or take dance lessons. There’s an even stronger possibility that you will not be able to hear the TV over your daughter practicing the piano over and over and over again.

What they do not tell you when you become a dad to a girl is that your bank statement will be constant transactions of things like clothes, more clothes, makeup, shoes, more shoes, and all the cute girly things (particularly from Target)!

By this point all of you girl dads are probably shaking your head YES or shouting AMEN that someone is putting your TRUE job description in writing.

When I think about my Dad, a man of MANY, MANY words and actions, I think about the 26 and half years he has done many things he never expected to do.

Of course he does all the typical dad things like wash my car, change my AC filter and fill up my car with gas, but his job goes far beyond tune ups and manual labor.

My dad will sit and listen to me talk about everything from work to boys.

There are many nights we stay up late and talk. After working a full day outside in the cold, heat, or rain, I know how tired he is and how many hours of sleep is lost while listening to me.

But he stays up anyway.

I’ve lost track of the number of nights he has stayed up late waiting for me to get home, always greeting me at the door with open arms. I know how worried he is when I am on the road late at night and I feel his relief the moment I pull up under our carport.

I can’t tell you the amount of times my dad and I lie down on the rug in our living room watching a movie and I fall asleep under his arm. I know many times his arm falls asleep around me and his back aches from lying on the floor.

But he does it anyway.

I know there’s many times I back out of our driveway and catch him wiping his eye as he waves goodbye to me. I know it breaks his heart when we are not together because it breaks mine too. What he does not see are the tears that fall from my eyes as I drive away.

I know my dad, just like any other dad, have big dreams of fatherhood. I know he would have chosen golf lessons over dance lessons and chose a baseball game over a dance recital before he had me.

But the moment I came into the picture, his big picture changed.

Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would spend many days of his life having tea parties, getting his nails painted or running to the store late at night to buy his daughter a box of tampons, but he did it and he did it for me.

Why? Because that is what Daddies do for their little girls.

To my own Dad,

This one was written for you to show you that I have been watching you all these years take on the leading role as the ultimate girl-dad! I know with each problem you have the solution and with each of my actions, good and bad, you love me unconditionally. The words in this post will never do you justice, but I hope you know that you’ll always be my first love and the leading fella in my life.

I love you Pappa Smurf😘