Tuesday, January 06, 2009

He's always been an asshole


We saw my father the other day, a short stopover on a road trip back from my mother's. At one point, he picks up a very large large flashlight and shines it directly into my four year old daughter's eyes.

"OW! That hurts my eyes!" Curie yells at him.

He laughs.

"Why did you do that?" she demands, clearly confused.

He doesn't know what to say for a minute, then he makes up something about trying to shine it on the wall behind her.

Curie scrunches her eyebrows in the way that she does when she doesn't believe you.

My dad is one of those men who grew up with a bunch of guys who think insults and teasing are funny. Anyone who says otherwise is "too sensitive" and quickly becomes a magnet for further teasing. Sometimes he is funny. Most of the time he is just a dick. The truth is, I don't like him very much.

He is not my biological father. He married my mother when I was six. They divorced when I was twenty six. He adopted me when I was ten. No one asked me. Not that I am still annoyed about that or anything.

My daughter is a lot like me, with one small exception: she has all the assertiveness I wish I had.

4 Comments:

Jeff & Nicki said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jeff & Nicki said...

I had a hard time in my dad's family when I was younger because the uncles like to tease a lot. I didn't like it, but my whole family told me to lighten up. I deal better with it now, but I also interact with them less now. I make no claim that they are assholes, just that my dad's four brothers didn't know how to deal with a little girl very well sometimes. They wouldn't do anything that intentionally hurt me.

reposted because I forgot to have follow-up comments emailed to me

Amelie said...

Your daughter is great. And unfortunately it sounds like my boss is like your dad.

Unknown said...

Your daughter is great...and good for Curie,not taking any crap.

Thanks for sharing this with us......
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