To most it appears that my blogging career was short lived. However, that is not the case. I have suffered from extreme writers block and instead of blaming it on myself I am going to be like every other child in the world and blame my parents, more specifically my step-dad!
Seeing as I am 22 years old, this may seem shocking to you but it is not a shock that I am blaming him for the fact that I can no longer amuse people with my words. Why you may ask? Well because he said he enjoyed reading my blog! Yes, that is not a type-o, HE ENJOYED IT… My step-dad is pretty much the coolest guy you will ever meet, a retired navy seal, runs marathons, treats my mom great, ANNNDD is the author of two books and a screenplay (and I am not exaggerating or kissing ass here). Yes, that is correct, the one person in my family with enough expertise in an area of something I did, actually enjoyed it. Well from the moment my mom called me and told me the great news, my brain shrunk to the size of a pea, my fingers swelled up so I could not type, and my memory forgot my blog password. If I was going to write and have him enjoy it, it had to be good. So for the past month, I have been racking my brain to come up with clever topics that I know will be insightful and witty on and with nothing coming to mind, all I can say is if there is always this underlying pressure, I am very glad I did not grow up “Daddy’s Little Girl”.
Now my step-dad by no means threw the weight onto my shoulders when he told me he thought my blog was good but rather he wanted me to know that he was proud of me for another one of my cool accomplishments. Since he has been around, he has always been proud of my sister and me for everything that we do (as long as he doesn’t have to pay a court fine for it). He has not asked for much besides to graduate college (which he helped pay for out of generosity) and get a job, which is not unreasonable.
The catch is that he came into my life sometime during my high school years. I cannot think of which year to be exact as that my high school life was filled with lousy friends, boy drama, more boy drama, and lots of self-involved tears. All I can remember is that my parents were married the summer before my senior year in high school. My “real father” (or sperm donor as my sister calls him) and my mother divorced when I was younger so most of my years were spent in what we called our little sorority of my sister, my mom, and myself (sometimes grandma when she was not reading a book). We had tampons lying around the house, bras on the back of our doors, and did not hesitate to walk around in our underwear. So when my step-dad came along it was quite the change, but we welcomed him with open arms.
I have always looked to make him proud because he is successful and one of the smartest people I know, (we always say that he would win big bucks if given the opportunity to play on cash cab) and I am very happy that I have done so. However, now there is the looming need to make every post I make better than the last, thus giving me the severe writers block. I could only imagine if I had had him around when growing up, “Your room looks so clean”. The need to clean it even better would have taken over my ability to focus and the next thing you know I would have been covered in organizational tabs with the vacuum cleaner cord wrapped around my ankle.
So the lesson learned, don’t have kids because everything is ultimately your fault? No, but for now it will just have to be that having a dad proud of you can be the best feeling in the world even if it makes you want to pull your hair out from time to time. And for all you dads out there, be careful to walk the fine line between being proud of your kids and being too proud of them. Mine does quite a good job of walking the tight rope, but your love for their success could actually end up stiffening them.
*Disclaimer- The rest of my family is proud of me too but they have to be they are related by blood. :)*
