A girl, Oh boy!

A curious thing happened about the time I became a teenager. Girls. My father was never the type to sit me down and explain things to me. I don’t blame him. How do you explain this complex phenomenon to a hyperactive prepubescent with an undeveloped attention span. A heads up would have been nice. It was a subtle change for me. It seemed like one day I was angry in gym class because the girl in front of me popped up weakly to end the kickball game leaving the tying run on base and me on deck. The next day I was angry in gym class because the CUTE girl in front of me popped up weakly to end the kickball game leaving the tying run on base and me on deck. You see? Subtle.

I was a bold and adventurous youth. There was not a dare that I would pass up. Now that I look back on it, I have come to the conclusion that perhaps I did not always surround myself with the best influences. We had our fun and for the most part we did so without causing much trouble. However, if there was something to climb or something that needed jumping, I was the man. I wasn’t always the most athletic in the group or even the most coordinated but I was the designated crash dummy. I did it willingly because I liked the challenge. Now that I look back on it I feel kind of used. If something dangerous is laying on the ground looking dead, as a kid, what do you do? You grab a long stick and poke it. How do you check the consistency of an unidentified viscous substance? The depth of a dark hole? A deep puddle? Find a stick and check it. I was the proverbial ‘stick’ throughout my childhood. As brave as I was when it came to answering the many dares of my so-called friends, girls where a whole new ballgame. I was the poster boy for an awkward young man. I was a blushing, stuttering, toe in the dirt, fool of a boy. Talking to girls, at times, was more painful than high centering myself on my Huffy. Gradually it got a little better. I learned a little in High School. College was much better. Now I am happily married. Looking back on those days I don’t miss it at all. I do miss that Huffy though…

Four words recently changed my world. Four beautiful and scary words. “It is a girl!” I am going to be the father to a beautiful little girl. A little girl who is going to do the same thing to a slew of unprepared and unwitting little boys. A little girl who will turn me back into that shy fool of a boy, but for different reasons. I do not know everything that lies in wait for her and that is scary to me. I do know she will be loved and that is comforting. I barely survived my first bout with females! I am excited for round two…