Differences with a Daughter

I knew having a girl after having six boys was going to be a new experience. I didn’t expect it to be as different as it has been though. I thought I had a full perspective on fatherhood with my six-pack of boys, but having a girl has widened my view.

For one, she developed language skills sooner than her brothers and this has brought new insight into how much these little humans are thinking at a very young age. I suspected the boys could understand me and chose not to when they were her age, but with her it’s abundantly clear that’s the case at times. It’s hard to pretend you don’t understand when you’re saying you don’t want to.

Like the boys she demonstrates her feelings through actions, but her actions are different from theirs. Her spontaneous hugs (of the classic toddler bear-hug-to-the-legs variety) show a willingness to display affection in a way the boys didn’t. Now, we have some boys who are huggers, but none of them at age 20-months would run up and suddenly wrap my leg in a bear hug and squeeze me tight for 10 seconds. Yes, at her size it’s more of a koala bear hug but she gets the point across.

Then there are the things that are the same as with the boys. Like all of the boys, she does some ridiculous things. The putting on of oversize boots is a classic kid silliness. The mad dash to put things in or play with the toilet bowl water if the bathroom door is open is a universal toddler pastime. But the most ridiculous of her ridiculous behaviors has to be her version of bobbing for apples.

When we get a load of groceries from the store it’s a big operation. The van gets backed in and every kid helps bring sacks of groceries into the house. Usually they get piled up on the kitchen floor. My daughter, like all of the others, wants to participate (“me help, me help!”).

And she does – until the apples get unloaded. Like most of our produce we buy apples in bulk so they usually come in a bag. If my daughter finds the bag of apples after they’ve been unloaded she attacks them like a fiend. She will take a bite out of an apple and then move to the next one, take a bite out of that one and so on. This would be ridiculous enough on its own but there’s one salient point that takes it to the next level: this is while they are STILL IN THE BAG!

All notions of the dainty, charming, and well-behaved daughter go out the window when I see her attacking the bag of apples.

However, this just reveals another way things are different with her. She gets scolded for this, but I don’t get upset with her the same way I do with the boys. Is it her saying, “sorry dada,” that softens me? Is it the golden curls and cute smile? Is it the fact that she’s wearing rubber boots that cover both her legs?

Whatever it is, there’s no doubt that she usually gets off easier than any of her brothers would have for these kinds of shenanigans. Which means I’m going to have to figure out how to handle that. If I don’t it won’t be good for her. And the rest of us will never get to eat an apple again.