Father Of The Bride

George Banks aka Steve Martin said, ~You fathers will understand. You have a little girl. An adorable little girl who looks up to you and adores you in a way you could never have imagined. I remember how her little hand used to fit inside mine. Then comes the day when she wants to get her ears pierced, and wants you to drop her off a block before the movie theater. From that moment on you're in a constant panic. You worry about her meeting the wrong kind of guy, the kind of guy who only wants one thing, and you know exactly what that one thing is, because it's the same thing you wanted when you were their age. Then, you stop worrying about her meeting the wrong guy, and you worry about her meeting the right guy. That's the greatest fear of all, because, then you lose her.~

Working in the asylum, a person pretty gets a front row seat on the discipline and raising of other people's kids. When it comes to kids, especially girls, you feel obligated to keep a close eye on them due to the fact you consider them like your very own daughters. Its an aspect of the job that one will never be able to outgrow because you spend time getting to know them not only on a professional level, but also a personal level as well. For the most part, through time they consider you a father figure and to be perfectly honest its a role I gladly accept. Its that so called father-daughter bond/relationship that grows over the years as you witness then grow up in stages from little girl, to teenager, and into a woman.

Like any father would with his own daughter(s), he would be concerned with how she/they dance. Essentially, there are three words that are generally used on a seemingly constant basis when it comes to "my girls" style of dancing and those three words are that's just wrong. One day their on your feet as you dance with them and the next thing you know you turn around and their dancing like their in a 50 Cent video, which in my eyes is unsuitable at their young age. It can be an embaressing and uncomfortable feeling seeing them do that type of dancing to where you seriously contimplate telling them or making a rule they can't dance like that until you're over the age of 18.

When it comes to dating, its usually treated the same with dancing only the age limited is hiked up tremendously. There have been many one on one conversations with my 6 & 7 girls that they are not dating at all or they're not dating till they 45 years old. Its basically one of things that you can't help but do because you want them stay that age and not lose thier innocence. For the most part, we can't be personally for them when they suffer their first broken heart from a guy that she realy liked. We can't be there when they pass their driving test and see the smile on their face being witness by mom and/or dad. Though, I may not be there for those specific events in life, I'm there for the events in between and that's ok with me.

In retrospect, all guy will always have those initial fears instilled into our being when we have a daugher or daughters of our own. Its that scary realization that she will someday meet the right guy and you will no longer be her/their # 1 guy, but rather her # 2 guy. For me personally, I will put the fear of God into each and every boy that stands in front of my door asking to take my daughter(s) kinda like how Martin Lawrence and Will Smith did it in Bad Boys 2. Ultimately, she will meet the right guy and hopefully its a guy that will treat her with the respect and dignity that is deserving for my daughter(s). In the end, its when the preacher asks who gives this woman to this man I will reluctantly but proudly say...I do, the father of the bride and a perfect song that goes with this song is Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle.