When dealing with an 11 year old girl, image is everything. Not embarrassing them, calling attention to them or making them have the potential to be called out by their peers is a never ending story. Take for example shoes (or coats, book bags, phones, puppies, chewing gum, or hair dryers and due to size limits on the PaD, basically everything in this world not listed here), if Maria, Kathy and Suzy all have leather Keds for cheer you damn well better believe we are going to go find leather Keds cut from leather from the same dead cow to make our shoes. It’s what a Dad does.

I had to drive Sarah to school today and I told her of the PaD shot I wanted to do of her along with some cool back lighting at the front doors while she was walking into her building. She mutually agreed to let me take this picture. PaD on. Happy Dad.

Fast forward pulling up to the door, and as she’s getting out of the car a “boy” appears out of nowhere from around the corner, a boy in her class. We went from “go ahead and get your photo Daddy” to “put that damn camera down and don’t you embarrass me by taking my picture in front of this boy who will in turn tell everyone about my crazy dad and his stupid camera” about a nanosecond after school starts. No words were spoken. Nothing was said. Briefly looking at my Nikon on the console, and then deep into Sarah’s eyes I relented and said “Have a good day, love you” and she was gone…

No Pad. Unscathed and not embarrassed, another day of being a pre teen started without a reckless Dad messing things up (a victory for us both I’d say). I have improved my dad to daughter facial recognition ability being on daughter # 2. Poor Kayla was terrorized due to my inability to comprehend, understand, recognize and most of all empathize with the plight of being a pre/teen girl in today’s world.

I am getting wiser in my 40’s and slowly starting to slightly understand this parenting thing!