Hop Dad

When She is Not Like Me

January 16, 2026 at 5:00 pm Leave a comment

One of my goals as a father has been to make sure I wasn’t trying to raise a “mini me”. Let the kids find their own way through life and support them at their every turn. I admit I had grand plans when I learned I would become a parent, but my first child made sure early on that she was going to carve her own path, disabusing me of the notion that I had much say in the directions my kids would wander. Yet I could introduce elements of my childhood that I fondly remember, hoping they would appreciate and incorporate those elements into their lives. Even with that goal in mind, there are moments where you are reminded that your children are not you.

So, here we are on a cold December evening, settling in for a holiday movie. My daughter starts perusing the selections on the TV menu and I helpfully pipe up with “How about ‘A Muppet Christmas Carol'”? Her reply was one of those cold, casually cruel reminders that she is NOT me.

“I don’t like The Muppets”.

I know the girl is too young to understand the sound of a needle scratching across a record but I heard it and it was loud.

Fortunately, she was sitting a little bit forward of me so she could not see me spending the next five seconds agonizing through each stage of grief, coming to grips with the fact that I have completely failed as a father. I am so sorry, Cookie Monster.

The room was silent save for a quiet clicking of the tv remote. I wasn’t sure I heard what I heard until I watched her browse right past the Muppet holiday movie options and choose something… I don’t know what. It doesn’t matter. I couldn’t focus. I got up from the chair, went into the kitchen and began viciously chopping apples for a batch of holiday applesauce that my Muppet-less daughter now did not deserve. I was so upset that I’m certain the apples in the sink were leaning away from my hand when I would reach for them.

Who doesn’t like the Muppets? ::chopchopchop:: They teach you to count. ::1 CHOP 2 CHOP 3 CHOP:: They tell you how special you are. How do you figure out which one of these things is not like the others without them? All of those memories of driving to Dads and Daughters events, listening to songs about the King of Eight, and the people in your neighborhood, wasted during the holidays. Bah humbug, indeed.

I began to imagine where in my busy schedule I would have time to drive this strange girl down to the hospital where she as born. Birth certificate in hand, I would drag her through the front door, slap that certificate on the counter of the maternity ward and demand a full refund. “It doesn’t like The Muppets” must be a checkbox on their “Returning Your Child” form.

The better part of me knows that this is just another moment where I am painfully reminded that my kids are their own persons, full of weird tastes and opinions of their own making derived in a world far different than the one I grew up in. I teach them to explore their world and think for themselves, and sometimes this is what happens. I must learn how to be ok with raising a Muppet-free daughter.

Now, if you don’t mind, I am going to sit in the corner, loudly munch some cookies, and count to 12 until the world looks sunny on my street again.

Entry filed under: Being Dad. Tags: Being Dad, Children, Dad, Family, Fatherhood, Kids, Mom, Motherhood, Parenting.