Mine are right there too.. one turned 4 today and the other turns 8 in july..
But when the time comes for boys to get involved,, i will simply inform them that i am not afraid of dying or going to prison,, so think about that when u look at my babies...
To both of you guys, this may fall under the category of 'way more than you wanted to know'. My little girl just graduated college, and she is currently dating a guy I am not thrilled about. I don't need to get into x rated language for the three of us to know what we are talking about. But I can talk with my daughter straight up about this because of an idea that was passed on to me, and which I used, and I now pass it on if you are interested:
When my daughter started dating we put in a rule: daddy has to meet one-on-one with any new boy you date before you go out the first time. At first she was "aw, daaad", but by the time she left high school she loved it. It went like this:
Sometime before the first date he had to call me and arrange a time to meet. Not through my daughter. A phone call from him to me. We would meet on our patio, just me and him, and it would go like this:
* Wait about 30 seconds with nothing said. Let him sweat a bit.
* Me: "So, I understand you are attracted to my daughter."
They always shit a brick here. "Yes" doesn't sound right, but "no" doesn't either. Deer in the headlights. I just look at them with no expression while they wonder what to say. Then I smile and say,
"I understand. We like her too." Always get a nervous laugh here.
Me: "I also understand that at least half of your attraction to her is physical."
This is always funny. They turn backflips claiming otherwise. "Oh no, Mr Smith, that is not right at all. I think she is the smartest and most interesting..."
Me: "Son, stop it. Its just me and you out here, no one to impress, and I'm miles ahead of you. Don't BS me on this. See, there is nothing wrong with that. Its just how God made us guys. We get all excited about physcial appearance. So, hey, its okay. I understand. No sweat at all. And because that is the way we guys were created, I am giving you permission to kiss or touch my daughter anywhere you like....above the neck and below the knee. Can you picture above the neck and below the knee?"
Him: "Yessir."
Me: "Great! See, this is not hard at all. There are two exceptIons to this rule. On her birthday, and on the night of the prom, you may place your hand on the small of her back to escort her into and out of a room, protecting her from all others who might have other designs. But on the other 363 days its above the neck and below the knee. We straight on that?"
Him: "Yessir."
Me: "I can't predict how this will go. Its all up to her, isn't it? But if you are fortunate, and you guys continue to see each other, you and I will cross paths from time to time. At such times I might ask you this question: "Are you behaving honorably regarding my daughter?" Now, when I ask you that question I am not looking for a philosophical answer. All I really want to know is 'above the neck and below the knee.' You will answer 'yes' or 'no'. And I will determine whether your answer is correct. Are we clear on this?"
Him: "Yessir."
Me: (Big genuine smile) "Great! See how easy that was? I'm glad we had this little talk. You guys are going to do great. Now go have a great time."
By the time she graduated high school, my daughter judged boys by how they reacted to this. She told me once, "Daddy, there are several boys who wanted to go out with me that you never knew about. They balked at calling to come see you, and I figured that any guy not man enough to do that wasn't worth going out with."
It gave her a safe place to be in the scary world of dating. I know how much you love your daughters. I hope you enjoy the teen years as much as the childhood years. When mine was a child I told God that I didn't care if He took me home early, but that I wanted to see her to age 20, so I could see the young woman she was destined to be. After that, I didn't care. I imagine you feel much the same way.
