Why do you torment me?

After rasing two boys, I naively believed that I was prepared to raise a girl.  After all, although there are differences, kids are kids, right?  There was a certain amount of healthy fear and respect that the boys had for me which, when necessary, could be leveraged to my advantage in an effort to maintain control in our household.  After my daughter was born, I solemnly vowed to treat her and raise her in the same way as the boys.  That lasted until she was about 4 years old.  After getting in trouble for some minor offence, she was dismissed to her bedroom to cool off.  My parental lecture continued as she walked up the stairs to her room, when she suddenly stopped on the stairs and put her hands on her hips.  She looked at me and said, "Daddy, I'm almost in tears" as a warning to me that I had better watch myself before the floodworks began.  I was speechless... She then continued calmly to her bedroom.

While driving home after picking my daughter up from school, she read a community sign indicating that a sock-hop was taking place friday evening for grades 4-6.  She asked me what as sock hop was and when I indicated that it was a dance, her eyes lit up for about 30 seconds until she realized that she was only in grade 3.  She then looked up and raised her hands in the air in futility, saying "Why do you torment me?".... she was 8....