Short Story

I’ve noticed lately that the older our 14-year-old daughter gets, the more critical my wife gets.

Don’t get me wrong, when they’re not “fighting,” they are the best of friends. It’s not entirely my wife’s fault as we do the “good cop, bad cop” thing, except it’s the “responsible parent, fun parent.”

Guess who’s the fun parent?

Where our daughter is concerned, I’m a pushover. But I’m not stupid either. I can’t go up against her mother since one day our daughter may leave us, but with my wife it’s “until death do us part.” I’d rather that be later than sooner. Just kidding.

Besides, my wife can be more critical since they are both the same gender.

Some things I wouldn’t have a clue about since I’m a man first and a father second. This makes my wife sick as she is always made out to be the “bad guy.”

But the way I see it, I really can’t lecture our daughter on makeup, clothes and hair. As long as she looks appropriate for her age, I’m good.

The other night the three of us decided to take in a late movie. Our daughter came walking out of her room wearing a pair of shorts.

My wife took one look and snapped, “Go back and change into a pair of jeans!”

Our daughter did the eye roll thing and came to me. “Dad, why can’t I go like this?”

I could see my wife staring me down in the background, so my answer was short. “Honey, listen to your mother.” She stormed off to change.

She came back out wearing jeans and sat next to me as I put on my athletic shoes.

Just then my mom walked into the room, looked at me and said, “Ron, you’re not wearing those shorts, are you? Go put on a long pair of pants!”

I looked at my daughter and she quipped, “Listen to your mother!”