When I was in college, I had a running joke with my dad. I always asked him in a ridiculous tone, "Daddy am I pretty?" His response was always an over the top "Oh yes darlin', you're beautiful." I batted my eyes ridiculously and said thank you doing my best Southern Belle imitation. This tradition continued until the day he died. This tradition began when we overheard a sorority sister on Dad's Weekend ask her father if she was beautiful. She was quite serious and would never be mistaken for light-hearted. We looked at each other and immediately knew we needed to examine this conversation outside the confines of my sorority house. That was one of the great things about our relationship, we knew by looks what the other wanted. The long and short of our analysis was the statement was beyond ridiculous and needed to be repeated and often. I have often thought how many people overheard us and thought we were serious. Our routine was familiar and I'm sure irritating to those nearest and dearest to us.
When I see the nugget and her daddy together, I am excited at the possibilities of their inside jokes. In the above pictures I can already see her looks that are charming and have her daddy at her beck and call. I know I will feel jealousy at some point because I will just be mom. The mom who tirelessly cleans diapers, washes clothes, and worries if she is intellectually stimulated enough to become a good student of life. That's a whole other post though.... Ultimately though, I am really excited to watch their relationship grow.
However, I am glad she could not ask him if she was pretty when she was born. She looked like a helpless bird and looking back, she was not pretty but she was my everything.
