THINKBOX
Function over form in affairs of the family
- Published: 5 Dec 2012 at 00.00
- Newspaper section: Life
My seven-year-old daughter falls into a typical pretty-mirror-image-of-the-absent-father cliche. Brought up by her mother's family, she bears an unmistakable resemblance to her father _ large, deep-set eyes, full lips, and skinny limbs that betray her daily calorie intake, let alone the trace of developing rock star cheekbones.
But unlike the family drama cliche where the mother bemoans her long-departed love in the look of the living child _ who in turn asks about her absent old man with those teary doe eyes and little, heart-wrenching innocent voice _ my daughter is no drama queen when it comes to this fatherly matter.
The little Missy, for a start, has earned a kind of reputation among my friends as a nonchalant kid with zero self-pity thanks to a number of lines she has delivered regarding her father (or the lack thereof) that would make her a queen of family black comedies. I remember it was a month ago when my niece said to my daughter: "My mum said you're the poorest child because your parents intentionally made you an orphan." (Don't ask me where on Earth this juvenile bitchiness came from!)
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