Just call me "Dad"

My oldest daughter just called me Dad. She's nearly 12, and up until today, she's called me Daddy. But she sent me an email to my Gmail account today that said "Dear Dad, Thank you for letting me go to the church retreat."

Dear Dad. Not "Daddy." The older honorific. The one she'll use in public, in front of her friends so she's not embarrassed by them thinking she's a baby. Eventually, it's the one she'll use all the time, so she doesn't think she's a baby.

When did I become Dad? I knew this day was coming. I even talked about it with my wife. Neither of us have been looking forward to it. I'll still be "Daddy" to the two youngest for several more years, but it's still a denting blow.

One of the things Google does is put sponsored links in all of their email windows. It keys the messages on the text of any email. Write an email to your friend about a diet, and all the sponsored links will be about diet programs. Get one about the new watch you got for Father's Day, and all the messages are about watches and Father's Day.

For this email, two of the sponsored messages are about "Learning to Let Go" and "Letting Go."

Google is mocking me. Stupid Google.