My 2 cents

Daddy Syndrome

Shortly after I returned home from the army, I caught my now ex-wife in a compromising possision with who I thought was my best friend, on my living room floor.

We got devorced of course. I payed my child support, and for a year after life was almost normal for me.

Then one night I was awakened by the doorbell. Upon opening the door I was confronted by DCF agents, and presented with costody of my 3 year old daughter. I'll spare you all the details of that mess, and skip to last year.

My daughter turned 14 and started to become a young woman. The changes in her have been difficult for me to deal with. My girlfriend tells me that I act like a jealous boyfriend every time my daughter leaves the house.

In a way thats how it feels. You see for years I have been THE MAN, as far as my daughter has been concerned. I buy the food, I buy the clothes, I dry the tears, and so on, and now she doesn't need me any more. So yeah, it feels a lot like when I caught my wife cheating on me, only harder, because this I have to live with, and that I didn't.

As the year has progressed though, I have found ways of coping, and now that she is about to turn 15 I feel more confident in my new roll. It just took time for me to adjust to sitting back, letting her make her own choises, staying out of her way, and trusting her to do the right thing.

Even though she has yet to bring home a boyfriend, which is another hurddle I haven't jumped yet, I have spent the time preparing for the eventuality of it. I'm prety sure the boy will servive it at any rate...lol.

Still, I miss the days of teaching her to look both ways before crossing, and the first time my hand left the bicycle seat and she peddled down the sidewalk on her own.