“She probably won’t remember the heart necklace I bought her for Christmas this past year when she’s 12…but I am guessing she will remember our Saturday morning trips to the Waffle House…and it is my prayer she will treasure those times deeply.”
Tonight was Ryan and Selah’s Christmas Daddy Date, and there were two rules:
1. She got to choose what to do on the date (dinner and The Muppets movie).
2. Landon and Evan got to choose what she wore on the date (see below).
As I mentioned earlier on Facebook, the outfit-choosing excursion was quite entertaining. The four of us paraded through Gap Kids (they always have the best deals on cute clothes for girls a couple days before Christmas) in our typical peaceful way: “Quiet…stop touching him…move over here…you sit there and you sit there and you stand over there…LOOK OUT for other people…why do you have to hang on each other…please remember that you are NOT the only people in this store…stand OUT OF THE WAY…stop trying to wrestle him…SHHHH…move over…can’t you see this lady is trying to shop over here…get out of the way…Evan, I know we aren’t supposed to say shut-up in this family, but SHUT UP…yes, they sell girls’ underwear here…seriously, guys, I just need two more minutes to concentrate…ouch, get OFF my foot…here, hold my keys…okay, you have both lost rights to your vocal chords…stand with your backs against this wall and don’t say another word until we get to the dressing room.”
Once safely in the dressing room, Selah tried on three outfits and the boys got their speaking rights reinstated so they could decide which outfit was prettiest and most appropriate for her big date. This was a very intentional part of all three of their training, the reasons of which I will elaborate on some other time.
Anyway, the deciding vote went to Evan who deemed this outfit the most “posh,” and probably because the last time I took them shopping I corralled them around the iPad to play Selah’s Fancy Nancy app…and, well, “Fancy Fancy” (as Selah calls her) is quite fond of that word. And fond is a fancy word for “likes a lot.”
***
“Unfortunately, most dads give their daughters away long, long before their wedding day. But not me. Selah will be married to me until I give her away.”
-Ryan
Resources:
Perry Noble’s thoughts on Daddy Dates and why he makes a big deal out of them