When your daughter is crying for help
You do not turn the music up louder
Nor do you scream at her to be quiet
Or slap her in the face with empty threats, at least God I hope they're empty threats
When your 3 year old daughter suddenly dies for reasons unexplained and turns into an ill behaved monster who screams and wishes she could disappear, you do not give her more reasons to want to disappear
When your 4 year old daughter slams herself in the doorway for the first time screaming she wants to die, you do not threaten to paddle her, as if slapping sense into someone is anything more than just a figure of speech
Maybe she's changed so drastically because someone killed that little girl right under your nose
When your 5 year old daughter is screaming for her mother, you do not hold onto her ankle with a death grip and ignore her as she flails through the night
When your 6 year old daughter collapses into a heap at the thought of wearing a winter coat because it makes her look fat, you do not yell at her to stop crying or else you'll give her something to cry about
When your 9 year old daughter is asleep in bed at 3am, you do not lift her up in a drunken rage drag her outside and tell her how bad she is, then threaten to give her the worst paddling of her life
When your wife threatens to divorce you because you're hurting your daughter, you do not pretend that nothing ever happened
When your 10 year old daughter stands before you with hot tears pouring down her face confessing how she wants to die, you do not yell at her and then abruptly leave the room with clenched fists
When your 11 year old daughter tries to kill herself, you do not hide from her while living in the same home as her
When your 12 year old daughter is being harassed at school, you do not tell her to suck it up and tell her how lucky she is
When your 13 year old daughter slits her wrists for the first time, you do not conveniently disappear until it's allegedly all better
When your 13 year old daughter is put on antidepressants, you do not passive aggressively hint that depression is a made up disease and give her more and more reason to blame herself and be consumed by the guilt that already keeps her up at night
When your 14 year old daughter confesses that she was sexually abused from a young age, you do not refuse to believe her and act like she's been a liar all her life
When the police come to your house and investigate you, you do not blame her because the mandated reporters and special victims unit are doing the job you never did
When your 15 year old daughter is singing karaoke at a restaurant with the family, you do not allow her sexual abuser to enter the restaurant and approach her, and make casual conversation with him as she hides in the restroom for the rest of the night
When your 15 year old daughter cries every holiday and locks herself in her bedroom when anyone is home, you do not become a ghost who only addresses her to yell at her
When your 16 year old daughter cannot start her car because it is dead and you just wrecked yours, you do not scream at her that it's her fault that her car is a piece of shit and accuse her of ruining everything on purpose, with no apology to follow up your tantrum of rage
When your 17 year old daughter is being bullied at school and told to kill herself, you do not call her a liar or tell her she's doing everything wrong
When your 17 year old daughter is sick for the entire summer and in immense pain, you do not scream at her every time she is writhing in pain on the bathroom floor and call her a liar after she's puked her guts out
When your 17 year old daughter is diagnosed with autism, you do not remove yourself from the conversation like you have for nearly 2 decades
When your 17 year old daughter finally gets the nerve to call you out on your bullshit, you do not make the same bullshit excuses you've accused her of making for years
When your 18 year old daughter never speaks to you again, you do not have the right to blame anyone but yourself
