Father Of The Bride

My, my, my, to think that it was only such a short time ago when she was born. My how time flies and just where does it go? Here she is all grown up and about to depart to marry the man of her dreams. Isn't it such a wonder?

Now I am not the type of person who beats my own drum, but, don't you think she looks lovely? How about the dress? Do you like it? Do you think it suits her? Well I'm the father of the bride doing my best to be impartial, but, I just can't help it, I think she looks grand all around and made a very good choice of her dress.

More importantly, when she was born she had something wrong with her, a faulty hip and the first few months of her life we had to tie her up in a splint. Now where we originally come from everybody has a nickname and that's just the way it is. The indigenous peoples ability to choose apt nicknames is not only astonishing but indeed mind blowing. In Dagny's (my daughters case) it was 'ambulance', because she cried a lot when she was a baby. Who cannot help but laugh?

I hasten to add that when we left Zimbabwe she had played Tennis and Hockey for Zimbabwe schools and she still had two years of her schooling left to do. So alls well that ends well hey?

Before I go any further I need to tell a little story. Now both my wife and I are big believers in disciplining children and by this I mean giving them the odd smack as well. Horror of horrors. I always have believed that if one does this between birth and up to the age of five. Then one never has a problem with errant children. However don't for one moment think that you do not have to do this and then try and start disciplining them as teenagers. It almost certainly will not work.

I know this as I have never had the slightet problem with any of my children through all these years and now they are all adults and the same remains true.

The biggest problem I ever had with the bride here was when she was 15 or 16 years old and asked me if she could have another earing in her ear. To everyones horror I absolutely refused. My argument being that you didn't have to have a whole lot of earings in your ear (or anywhere else), to make you look pretty. You are pretty enough as it is and what next, you'll be asking me if you can stick a bone through your nose to make you look beautiful? No.

Well guess what? I wasn't the most popular man around town. My wife promptly started wearing two earrings again and combing her hair behind her ears. I never noticed, but, I do remember her once telling me she only did it to spite her Father. Eventually, I was cracking under the pressure and said that if she made Zimbabwe schools hockey, I would allow it. Good thinking Dad, except she then went and made it and so I had to allow the second piercing.

I was telling this to an Irish friend of mine the other day and he shook his head at me in wonder and said, do I think any Irish teenager would ask her dad?

Which is exactly my point. Discipline them when they are young  and thereafter everything runs smoothly.