I\u2019ve been told that a daughter needs a father\u2019s affection. That it is essential \u2014 vital even \u2014\u00a0to growing up right and not bringing home guys who look like alien biker thugs with gum disease.<\/p>\n
I never thought of myself as an entirely affectionate guy, but that all changed when I had a daughter. I became a puddle of mud. A bottle of syrup. A big soft-serve ice cream. A loving, doting, slobbering, hugging, kissing, sweet-mouth talking lump of sappy blubber.<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s the thing: I might be affectionate \u2014\u00a0a sad sack of Mr. Snuggles \u2014\u00a0but getting the little partner to join in ain\u2019t so easy. When it comes to her dear old dad, she\u2019s affection-resistant.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s the type of girl many dad\u2019s dream about \u2014\u00a0adorable, sweet and pretty, yet at the same time a rough-and-tumble, high-energy, grade-A tree climber. She\u2019s strong and agile for a 4-1\/2-year-old, and can dole out a mean punch.
\n
\nI know this because I think it\u2019s her way of telling the old man, \u201cHey mister, I love you!\u201d<\/p>\n
Whack!<\/p>\n
Truth is, I can\u2019t believe I even want a \u201csnuggle.\u201d I despise the word. It sounds silly and juvenile, and I\u2019ve never been a \u201csnuggler.\u201d I don\u2019t even like to hold my pillow too tight.<\/p>\n
But something happens when I see that little critter \u2014\u00a0I just want to scoop her up and squeeze her until her hair curls. Nothing feels better than one of my cheeks pressed against hers.<\/p>\n
She won\u2019t have anything of it, though. She\u2019ll use those powerful limbs to free herself like the jaws of life, complaining that \u201cmy face is scratchy\u201d and that she doesn\u2019t \u201chug boys.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBoys!\u201d I blurt out. \u201cYou think boys have hair on their chest like me?\u201d (Hopefully she doesn\u2019t know the answer to that.)<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t get me wrong: She\u2019s an affectionate kid. I see it all the time. During a story before bed she will press her body up against my wife, kissing her arm and burying her face wherever she can comfortably cram it. Then she peeks over at me with a wry smile to see if I notice.<\/p>\n
Of course I notice! Stinker!<\/p>\n
\u201cCome over here,\u201d I say, grabbing a foot or whatever I can snag. \u201cI want some of that love, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNever!\u201d she tells me. It\u2019s like I\u2019m some kind of pirate trying to recruit her into my band.
\n\u201cLet me go, you,\u201d she says, squirming out like an acrobat, sometimes violating the laws of gravity.<\/p>\n
Then \u2026 whack!<\/p>\n
But I\u2019m starting to figure her out \u2014\u00a0her little quirks and, mainly, how full of it she is. She was crashing into me one day, shoving me with her outstretched arms. Funny at first, I quickly grew tired of being a punching bag and thought up a way to get her to stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook here, little one,\u201d I said. \u201cYou shove me one more time and I\u2019m going to hug you.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stopped and thought about it. I could see little sparks in the pupils of her eyes. Gears in that noggin were mulling it over.<\/p>\n
Then, just like that, she gave me a shove that would stop a semi.<\/p>\n
So I made good on my threat and hugged her. She tried to fight me off, complaining the whole time. When she got free, she gave me the evil eye and growled. Then with a huff and a smile, she shoved me again and braced for the hug she knew was coming.<\/p>\n
Little stinker!<\/p>\n
So I\u2019ll take my affection however I can get it. No sugar in my coffee. Part love and part wrestling match will do for me. If that\u2019s what it takes, so be it. It might start with a poke or a tickle, and then involve chasing around the house and screaming, but I\u2019ll get my hug and I\u2019ll get my \u201csnuggle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whoever knew a little affection would hurt so good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve been told that a daughter needs a father\u2019s affection. That it is essential \u2014 vital even \u2014\u00a0to growing up right and not bringing home guys who look like alien biker thugs with gum disease. I never thought of myself as an entirely affectionate guy, but that all changed when I had a daughter. I became a puddle of mud. A bottle of syrup. A big soft-serve ice cream. A loving, doting, slobbering, hugging, kissing, sweet-mouth talking lump of sappy blubber. But here\u2019s the thing: I might be affectionate \u2014\u00a0a sad sack of Mr. Snuggles \u2014\u00a0but getting the little partner to join in ain\u2019t so easy. When it comes to her dear old dad, she\u2019s affection-resistant. She\u2019s the type of girl many dad\u2019s dream about \u2014\u00a0adorable, sweet and pretty, yet at the same time a rough-and-tumble, high-energy, grade-A tree climber. She\u2019s strong and agile for a 4-1\/2-year-old, and can dole out a mean punch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,8],"tags":[54,57,56,27,55,58],"class_list":["post-540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2010-nutshells","category-parenthoodandchildren","tag-affection","tag-dads","tag-daughters","tag-fatherhood","tag-hugs","tag-snuggle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=540"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":602,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540\/revisions\/602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}