The president is nervous.
Not about the economy (well, probably) or swine flu (OK, maybe that too).
But President Barack Obama is a dad after all, and he can't help but think about what will happen when daughters Sasha and Malia start dating.
Can you blame him? I wrote a piece a few months ago about Jamie Foxx stressing about his daughter dating and earned a ration of comments about my need to buy into patriarchical nonsense. But come on, folks, dads worry about their daughters. Heck, I worry about my daughter!
So why is it so inappropriate for dads to stress about the day their daughter brings a boy home?
The president told a reporter recently, "dating I think will be an issue because I
have men with guns surrounding them at all times, which I'm perfectly happy with, but they may feel differently about
it."
He was laughing when we said it, and minus the guns, I can her it coming out of the mouth of almost any dad I know. Those poor, poor prospective suitors.
Dating is a fun time for kids, but with hormones high on both sides, it's wrought with challenges. Broken hearts. Nights spent crying in bed because he didn't call when he said he would (and it doesn't make it much better that he simply forgot because that's what teenagers DO!). It isn't just a "Ohmigod, sex," thought that runs through a parents' mind when they think about their kids dating. We don't want them to get hurt.
And yeah, there's the sex thing too. None of us want to be grandparents tomorrow. And we remember what it's like to be in lust, right? We can't tell our kids WHEN to have sex, how or where. But we can worry about protecting their hearts and their bodies.
And let's face it, dads with daughters have an especial worry chiefly because they know what HE is thinking (or at least have an inkling of it). When my husband gets a look on his face about our daughter's little boyfriends, I don't worry that he's spending too much time thinking up ways to exert his patriarchical thumb over her femininity. He's just a dad who doesn't want his daughter to get hurt.
He may not be surrounded by guys with guns and access to his FBI file, but let me put it this way - the boy who messes with our daughter is no luckier than the boy who has to come face to face with the leader of the free world on prom night.
Image: DenverPost
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