For fathers in this subreddit, did you notice AWALT behaviors on your daughters when they were really young (<12 years old)?

M23W0OH7FV2t · 2017-12-01T10:13:13+00:00

[not my daughter, but a cousin, whose brother I am close to]

We were visiting our grandparents in Morocco for a family reunion, so there were a lot of us cousins around. The relevant ones, I'll call A (the cousin alluded to in the first paragraph), B (her brother), C (a third cousin), and D (a fourth cousin and C's younger sister). Our grandmother would spend all day watching old Arabic dramas on her VCR instead of paying attention to A and A, C, and D complained incessantly about this till B told his sister that if she wanted it solved, she should think of a solution to the problem, instead of whinging about it.

A then came up with a plan involving sabotaging the VCR by putting all sorts of weird liquids (shoe polish, mouthwash, toothpaste) inside it, such that grandma would pay attention to her. She tried to recruit all of us. B and I said we weren't getting involved, as we were more interested in playing soccer than having grandma's attention, but B persuaded me to sit and watch this whole process unfold with him.

So, the other 3 put all the material in the VCR, while grandma was napping in the afternoon upstairs -- the VCR being in the drawing room. B read a book on bridge as he'd play with my uncles casually in the evenings and he was (and remains) an intellectual type of person and has earned a reputation of being a straight-shooter within the family.

When grandma woke up in time for her drama, the VCR predictably, did not work. So she called B in, he said that he'd been reading while A, C, and D were playing in the drawing room. He further represented that he didn't really see anything aside from the intricacies of scoring contract bridge from the library book.

A was called in. A said she saw me do something to the VCR, when I had been playing soccer with the neighbour's kids. Grandma didn't quite believe her because of B's tale.

C was called in. She said that A had concocted the plot, while B had decided on the specifics and rounded up D and I. Now, B is a few years older than the rest of us and C's very street-savvy. So, C went and told B's (naive) mother that B had persuaded A to ruin the grandmother's VCR.

The mother ended up slapping B in front of everyone at the dinner table, as he should have known to stop them.

I think B was 10, I was 9, his sister was 7, C was 6, and D was 3 at the time. Our parents were in their early 40s, if memory serves.

To this day, the only person on either side of our families that doesn't see B as a paragon of integrity is his mother and I suspect that C had something to do with it.

B's now has a doctorate in statistics, is married, living in Europe, taking a break from work (he's worked consistently since age 22 in financial services and IT for 15 years) and raising A's daughter with his wife, a fellow PhD, who I've met once. A lives in America, didn't go to college, married, and has a daughter she didn't want, so B took her. A's husband has a doctorate in economics, is also successful, though not quite as much so as B. C is trying to con her way into a clueless rich guy's bed and have him impregnate her. D is currently pursuing a doctorate in Chemistry in Canada on B's suggestion.

A and C have always been close and would exclude D for whatever reason. So, D and B became close and B is now D's informal mentor, guiding her through her college, university and quals. I got pissed off at the world in Belgium almost joined ISIS, till B had a talk with me, setting me straight, and I've now moved to Denmark and am now thinking of getting a job in America.

Title	For fathers in this subreddit, did you notice AWALT behaviors on your daughters when they were really young (<12 years old)?
Author	TryhardPantiesON
Upvotes	0
Comments	1
Date	November 30, 2017 3:14 PM UTC (8 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/askTRP
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/asktrp/comments/7gmzeb/for_fathers_in_this_subreddit_did_you_notice/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/askTRP/for-fathers-in-this-subreddit-did-you-notice-awalt.119219 https://theredarchive.com/post/119219

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