Hey girl,

We've all been there; in every soccer, t-ball and maybe even football team our dads could sign us up for. Some of us were butterfly catchers and dirt artists, and some of us were catchers and running backs and actual sport things. Bringing your dad flowers after the game that you picked from the outfield was the best because he had to be happy that you thought of him, but not happy that the reason your team lost was because there was a ball in the outfield that no one got because there was a cute blondie out there picking flowers… but not you, of course.

If you were a girly-girl and didn't belong, it was a long and difficult rode to finally get to the light at the end of the tunnel. This light was ballet class and art class. The place where you could wear as much pink as you wanted, and it was OK to have sparkly finger nails. But the hardest part of being the son your dad never had was breaking the harsh news that you were in fact a girl, and not just a girl, but a tutu and tiara-wearing girl who would scream every lyric to every Disney princess song ever created.

Even though you were a girly-girl, going to different sporting events with your dad was surprisingly fun. You probably liked watching the sporting games, and not just because of the cute athletes, but because it was a fun time you got to spend with your dad that didn’t involve “Practice your pitching,” which actually translates to sweating for an hour in your background. Walking into your house on any given day, a sport will be on TV... even if your dad isn't watching it. If you change it, he’ll know, and change it back as soon as he can.

The best thing is when you bring guy friends over or introduce him to your boyfriend, and then they become the son your dad never had. They watch sports together all the time, and play sports together all the time. But this also includes having your boyfriend taken from you to watch college football for what seems like forever, even when they don’t like the same team.

You’ve seen every sports movie ever made, and if you’re anything like me, they are your favorites because of the drama and love, especially in "Field of Dreams." Watching sports movies with your dad is better than watching actual sports, because you know that they are all actors and you can relate to them because they probably don’t know how to play the sports in the movies.

Once your dad accepted the girly-girl that you were, he was there for every dance recital, choir concert and musical you were in, and then talked to you after about how stupid it was when you know he loved every second of it, and you loved every second of being with him.

Sincerely,

A tutu and tiara-wearing girly-girl.