I am starting to notice that certain changes are taking place in the way my daughters act around me.

• Banana's buddies (all of whom are about ten and eleven) were at a birthday party trip to a sports facility. The mom-in-charge reported that they were referring to some of the older male teens as "hot."
  
• around our house, the doors to my duaghter's rooms are constantly closed. The only time that they are opened is to allow the dog entry or exit, or to quickly dash across the hall to the bathroom, which also gets quickly slammed shut. Even when they are just brushing their teeth.
  
• at the start of the ringette season, I took Banana into the team dreassing room. I helped her on with her equipment, tied her skates, cleaned up the pile of clothes (coat, boots, baggy jeans, etc.) that was not needed on the ice, same as I did last year. When I went to help her change back, I was told, "Dad, you're not allowed in the changeroom. You're a boy."
  
  I'm not a boy, I'm a Dad!
  
  
• I've noticed that when I'm driving either daughter and/or their friends somewhere, conversations in the back seat involve a lot more hushed tones and giggling than they used to.
  
• one of the players on Banana's ringette team came out of the dressing room last week and (standing in her skates) was able to look me squarely in the eye.

As a dad of two pre-teenage girls (eight and ten), I thought I had more time to prepare for this.