Daddy Daughter Dance!

This was also an easy Daddy Date, because I didn't really have to plan anything.  I just had to buy the tickets two weeks in advance. 

This is important for a number of reasons, one is that she LOVES it, that's pretty simple.  The other is that she is going to create expectations of what she looks for in a man, based on her relationship with me.  Statistics (Christian AND Secular) are proving more and more that women who seek out bad relationships with men that are abusive or neglectful, often have a common past with how their father related to them.  The quality of a girl's relationship with her father has a huge impact on the formation of her personality, her level of self-esteem, confidence and happiness, and therefore on the choices she makes in life, not to mention how she will view God.  God has given me a HUGE responsibility with Bella, in that I am her first male relationship.  I am the male relationship that is no doubt going to dictate her relationships in the future.  I have to show her how she should be treated, I have to have her heart, so that she can trust me and her mother to guide her.  If I give her the relationship that God has designed, then her self-esteem will not rest on what other boys think of her, she will have a firm foundation of love and leadership.  So while the concept of taking her out on the date is new to me, it is going to be a regular thing, not just 'days out' but actual dates, where we connect and she trusts me.  I am by no means saying I will be the model dad, I am going to fail, I am going to get it wrong and I am going to stumble.  but my intention is clear in my heart, and I know what God has charged me with, and that is the growth and nurturing of this little lamb of God that some day I am going to have to walk down the aisle and trust the man at the end of the short walk.

  

It was immediately apparent what was going through her brain ALL day Friday.  All she could talk about was 'going on a date with daddy to a dance'.  About every 10 minutes she said 'Daddy, when we wake up tomorrow, we are going on a date, right?'  And I had to explain every time, 'it won't be when we wake up baby, it'll be at night'.  But that went in one ear and out the other.  She was SO excited.  She would talk about what dress she was going to wear, etc.  And of course in the midst of this I realized, I can't find any of my nice clothes, I had to dig for some stuff and still had to buy a tie.  I also shaved and trimmed my beard the night before, needed to look sharp!

Kathryn spent a while with her making her hair pretty and actually putting on makeup.

First thing we did was go to Applebee's.  I had a gift card I won at work, so that was as cheap as it gets.  We got in the door and the waitress ooh'd and ahh'd over Bella, and Bella shouted out for everyone to hear 'Daddy is taking me to a dance class!'.  We sat down and colored together and talked, we only ordered an appetizer because we were in a hurry.

When we go to the Belle house she started giggling, she was so pumped up.  We got to the front table at the door and we Bella got her Corsage, but her wrist was too small, and she didn't like having to wear it so high, so she just held it. We walked in and got our picture taken right away.  There was a professional Photographer there that had a full portrait setup.  Not sure when we will get those pictures but they took our address down, hopefully it will show up soon.  

We had about 30 min to kill after the pictures and the Belle house has a cool pond out back.  Most of the couples haven't arrived yet.  So we walked around, she didn't want to stay still too long.  It was around this time I realized that my phone was about to die, and the last thing I needed was to not be able to take pictures.  So we walked back to the car and plugged it in and let it sit.  I was getting so excited, because the gravity of the moment was hitting me, I was taking my daughter out on her first date.  

Once the doors opened and lots of couples had showed up (it had to be over 200 couples) we went over to the food table cause she wanted something to eat.  You can tell she was getting a little shy and nervous, she was, however, talkative enough to comment on other girls dresses, she would point out which ones she liked.  We ate, and then the DJ started playing upbeat music.  Bella actually grabbed my hand and said 'dance with me daddy', I was getting tears.  We danced, and man did we ever dance, she was jumping, and moving all over the place, and laughing, and smiling so huge.  Some of the Dads were just sending their daughters onto the dance floor while they talked with other dads, but luckily I wasn't the only dad with the realization that I was here for HER.  The dance floor quickly filled up.  Then she wore herself out and wanted more chicken fingers.  We did this back and forth for about 5 more times, then she said she wanted to go home.  It was only 30 min into the dance, I couldn't give up that easy, so I drug her out some more.  It was funny, she would be ALL about leaving, but as soon as I got her moving to the music, she would pick it right back up and start wiggling all over the place.  At one point there was a train of little girls walking all over the dance floor, she looked at me and I said 'go ahead' and she ran over to them and marched around. 

After a while I could tell that she was actually tired and we started dancing slow songs while I was holding her and her head on my shoulder.  We actually danced a lot with her standing on my feet, that was fun.  Once we started out we realized that she lost her Corsage, so we got another one, and she also got a T-Shirt that said 2012 Father Daughter Dance.  It had pretty flowers and such on it.  Then we got in the car and went home.  

Bella, I had the most awesome time with you that night, and I know it is a long shot, but I hope you remember it, because it was one of my favorite events in life.  Not just the dance, but everything leading up to it, seeing you get excited, telling people about it, asking about it, and getting dressed.  I hope we have many many more like it.  I love you.