i watched you make a scene - in a space meant to be calm - and more specifically for children. you were the only dad in the room - was that hard for you? so your daughter became - what is it young girls become so quickly we can't find a word for it - mother bends down and mumbles it into one of our ears - her breath tickles the girl's neck as mother says "prop", "you are his prop." and now you feel guilt that will wear down a lifetime of dating - "oh mommy, i didn't mean to take him away from you." and rather than raising our glasses at family functions - young girls slump their shoulders, shave the hair off their barbies - and mumble, Dear Greeks, " will this archetypal system ever end!"
i watch this bearded blue-eyed paul bunyon-type cover the girl's head with a napkin while the other children sit down for snack. she breaks free - he pulls her back and he excessively bounces her on his knee as he makes rodeo noises. she is sobbing. gets off and heads for the hallway. in 45 minutes, the child's boundaries have been bounded over, she has been humiliated in front of her peer group and she was excluded from the entire experience of her first school visit. But what is more important - did Daddy have a good time? Did Daddy get enough attention? Were his needs met! Being powerless is horrible, watching powerlessness is - like cutting off your hands in a room full of knives.