Not so "hill-arious" with me

Hillary Clinton and I have something in common. Without much warning, speculation, or fanfare from the media (not even analysis from Tim Russert on "Meet the Press") my poll numbers with my progeny are beginning to take a nose dive at the Hesterhouse. Once I was well-revered, loved, hugged, respected, obeyed, and cherished by our girls just as much as my husband. But things are beginning to change and I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. Lately, Gregg is all but overthrowing me with landslide victories in the "Parental Primaries." That is to say that the days of "momma knows best" have inadvertently been replaced by "Daddy knows more and he knows better."




I've told Gregg about my poll numbers sliding, and he, like Obama, is well aware of his lead. But he differs with Obama in the sense that he feels badly about my plunging "likability factor." He tries to make me feel better. He says it has something to do with the "mother/daughter, same gender, same birth order, entering the teenage years, blah blah blah" stuff. I hear what he is saying, and it has all sorts of validity behind it. But it doesn't help me out. It doesn't help me feel better. And with every talk I have with my girls that is beyond the superficial and hoping to make a long lasting impact, I know that he can do it better, and that it would go a lot further if it were coming from him. I feel doomed in the sense that due to my gender, I am predisposed to having conflict with my daughters.....when my husband will slide by unscathed because they believe with all of their adolescent beings that he "hung the moon." And quite honestly, I know he has.





Please understand me. It has been one of the biggest desires of my heart as a mother to see my girls love their daddy with such an incredible intensity and have him return that love back to them 10 fold. I have received unimaginable joy over the years, as I have watched them interact and grow in their relationship with one another. To a fault, I have probably over emphasized their daddy/daughter relationship and put the importance of mine on the back burner. I have just so desperately wanted my girls to have a special, unique connection with their daddy, as I know how important the foundation of that will be in the years to come. I know how essential their loving relationship with him will be in who they will date, how they will date, who they will chose to marry, and most importantly how they view the love of their Heavenly Father. There is a lot a stake in this daddy/daughter relationship, but I must not dismiss my "God-given" contributions to their lives as well.





So, I am riding this one out in hopes that I might earn some unexpected votes along the way. That something I say, something I do, might pull me out of this slump. Maybe if I cry in front of a group of women sitting around a table, that might help.....or maybe if I say I was in the midst of sniper fire in Bosnia, that might create some credibility with my girls. Or maybe if I share a beer with some Pennsylvanians and talk about how I shot rifles when I was a young girl...that would earn me some votes with them. Or maybe it simply boils down to my need for Superdelegates. I don't know exactly what the outcome will be.....but I will declare myself a winner now.....regardless of how the "convention" turns out. Now hear this!!! I am not a quitter. I won't give up. I am not going down without a fight. Where is Michigan and Florida when I need them?