the first time i called him "Dad" instead of "daddy"
he told me it kind of broke his heart
i told him i didn't notice
but through a smile
told me that every time i broke his heart,
it reminded him i was growing up
that he was getting older
and he wasn't going to be around much longer
and that guilt trips are a good experience
then practically knocked me over in a squeezy embrace
sarcastically exclaiming, "Hold ME!"

  
i lied, though, when i told him i didn't notice
cause when i called him "Dad"
it was a pre-meditated, conscious decision
But in my determination not to be a little girl anymore
I forgot that i never wanted to stop being his
because being his meant that he would tell you
"you are special, you are different, you will be something unexpected"
and if i am any of those things
its because he trained me that way
  
see around daddy, you never heard kid songs
no my lullaby was The Beatles' Golden Slumbers;
cause home is where you should be able to come back and sleep
life is Margaritaville; happy and ultimately your responsibility
and love is not bubble gum dance music,
no its Your Song; Elton John
its not just apoor man's food, its every man's desire
its imperfect and the wording is a little complicated
but when sung by the right man
its a simple concept that turns beautiful
so i hope my future husband is taking notes
because i decided a long time ago
that in order to win me over
you gotta sing that song:
do it just like Elton John except,
you have to mess up the words a little, just like my daddy
but regardless of the order of words
wisdom always poured through his
  
i have heard that daddy's girls always marry their fathers,
and being a member of the daddy's girl club
i fully intend ... to NOT DO THAT
you see as much as i love my daddy
he is not perfect;
doesn't always say the right thing,
he doesn't always listen and he assumes a lot,
he tells the same jokes as if they'll never stop being funny,
and he loves, lives for pestering people
but it didn't take me long to figure out that's his way of saying,
"i kind of care about you"
so if he does it a lot, it means he loves you
even if you want to kill him
i just don't know if i could marry a man like that
i don't know how my mom is still sane

man, he tells some really stupid jokes
cause the stories he lives are the ones that will leave your sides permanently split
there were too many stories for me to pick a favorite
but there is nothing better than sitting in a dark, cold, dank basement
and laughing till there are puddles of tears on the floor
because "there was 30 thousand pounds of smashed bananas"
you know, i never worried about burglars because
he has been rehearsing for them in his sleep for years
he holds his imaginary bat, gets a real mean look
and yells, in his sleep,
"WHATCHU WANT BOY?!
YOU BETTER GET OUTTA HERE, OR I'LL KNOCK YOU
INTO THE JAIL CELL FROM WHENCE YOU CAAAMMME!!"

I'm not sure if he is mad, unstable, brilliant, genius or just plain weird
but regardless he is my daddy and i ...
i'm sorry
have i been saying daddy this whole time?