“Monsters have green eyes,” she said, working feverishly with a crayon. “You can tell he’s a boy monster,” she said.
“Really?” I said. “What about girl monsters?”
“Girls are too good to be monsters.”
Suddenly I had no idea if I had been a good father or a terrible one.
Jim Woessner is a visual artist and writer from California. He has an MFA from Bennington. Publishing credits include Unbroken Journal, The Sea Letter, Adelaide Magazine, Potato Soup Journal, Ariel Chart, Peeking Cat, Critical Read, and others.
I love this. So simple, yet not.
This one hits close to home. Especially for this single dad who raised girls (and worried a lot). Nice work.
The last sentence is perfect in so many ways.
Thanks for the sweet comments.
Very clever and insightful – how children reflect our parenting good and bad! Loved this.