Daddy's girl
Last night, Leah (age 10) said to her mother, "When I am of an age that I can have a boyfriend, I AM going to have one."
Sensing the need for some fatherly intervention, I cornered her and demanded to know if she had said this.
She affirmed that she had, as if daring me to forbid her. Instead, I said, "I think that's a wonderful idea. How old do you think you should be to have a boyfriend?"
She evidently hadn't given that much thought. She responded with a tentative, "16?". I countered with "30." Realizing that she had been outmaneuvered, her counter-offer was "17." I quickly calculated an arithmetic mean, and offered "23" in a spirit of compromise. She hardened her position with a firm "15".
Although we never came to a fully-agreed-upon resolution, I feel like I came out ahead.
Sensing the need for some fatherly intervention, I cornered her and demanded to know if she had said this.
She affirmed that she had, as if daring me to forbid her. Instead, I said, "I think that's a wonderful idea. How old do you think you should be to have a boyfriend?"
She evidently hadn't given that much thought. She responded with a tentative, "16?". I countered with "30." Realizing that she had been outmaneuvered, her counter-offer was "17." I quickly calculated an arithmetic mean, and offered "23" in a spirit of compromise. She hardened her position with a firm "15".
Although we never came to a fully-agreed-upon resolution, I feel like I came out ahead.