Welcome back. Today I’d like to introduce you to my daughter. It’s her birthday. She is smart and successful and tall and beautiful. Oh, also, she’s four months older than me.

See, I told you this page would be interesting.

Allow me to explain. Usually when you start dating a man with a kid, you’re expecting a cute, snotty seven year old. Well what I got was a cute, only slightly snotty 25 year old. It really could have gone either way for the Boy. In hindsight, the odds of two twenty-something Type A’s hitting it off were not excellent. But here we are, ten plus years later, she’s my best friend, my travel partner, and my secret keeper. In one sense it worked out well for my husband, us getting along means a lot less drama. But on the other hand, he’s kind of out of luck because if she and I agree on something, it doesn’t really matter what he thinks. We don’t usually even consult him.

I honestly don’t remember anymore exactly how or when we became best friends, it just seems like we always have been. I barely remember my pre-Daughter Unit days. No idea where the name Daughter Unit came from but that’s what the Boy calls her and it still makes me laugh, so I stole it. We’ve had fun times and sad times. We’ve had early morning flights and late night Uber rides. We’ve traveled to both sides of the country without supervision and come home mostly unscathed. It’s been said that she has the skills to make us rich and I have the skills to keep us alive. So far, so good. I used to be the bad influence on her but now we take turns. All great friendships have an occasional bad influencer and if you think yours doesn’t, I have some news.

But it’s not only the best friend benefits that I enjoy. I also revel in my mom role. I mean, come on. She’s a responsible, hardworking, respected in her field business woman that I didn’t have to birth or raise. Kind of the best of both worlds for me over here and I’m definitely not above taking my motherly credit for how she turned out. Never mind that I was in utero when she was born and we didn’t meet until we were both adults. Details. I’m so proud of the woman I’ve watched her become in the last ten years. She’s confident and kind, compassionate and a friend to everyone. She’s unafraid to stand up for herself but hasn’t lost her sweet soft heart. I never doubt that she’ll tell me the truth and she always accepts my unsolicited motherly advice with only the occasional eye roll, like a good daughter should.

So here’s to my Daughter Unit on her birthday. If you ever have the opportunity to be best friends with your kid, 10/10 would definitely recommend.