Dinner with Julie

Julie has been working all summer babysitting for young neighbor boys, and actually saving most of her money (an uncommon trait in this family). As the time is drawing near for her to head off to her campus dorm room, time is running short for special father/daughter bonding time – something that she has expressed a wanting for (again, an uncommon trait – her mother being the other exception). She mentioned a while ago, quite proudly, that she wanted to treat me to dinner out before she left and while she could still afford to. So Monday night, while Sue & Joe were still in NH, and Tim & Yon were at work, and Jamie was at the Fair – leaving me, Julie & Nikki to decide dinner for just us – we happily decided that it would be an ideal time to eat out. Nikki wanted TGIF and Julie wanted Friendly’s. Figuring that Jules would be covering 2/3rds of the bill, I let her choice win – Friendly’s it was. Nikki, in her best “cut off my nose to spite my face” stubbornness decided if it wasn’t TGIF, she would stay home with a Fluffernutter. As I am always amused when they decide to “punish me” by being uncooperative, Julie & I left Nikki and somehow managed to have some guilt-free fun anyways. We talked about her impending departure from our everyday lives, and what to expect and how to best deal with some of the new situations she will likely encounter for the first time. We also worked on a plan for a “take-your-father-out-of-work” day adventure for next week, as the kids will be back at school and she’ll be briefly free. A canoe trip up the Green Harbor River sounds like a fun adventure – maybe after a stop at the RMV for a 2nd try for a learners permit (which is after all a stereotypical job of the father, right?). Wow – hard to believe we are all ready for this next step. How will I adjust to not having my daughter (who still proudly claims me as her own, still freely hugs me or kisses me goodnight, or gleefully shares songs/jokes/anecdotes with me) around to let me know that I’m not a total failure as a father? (‘cause ya know that enough of them are all to eager to point out all of my parenting “flaws”!!)