The WhatsApp notification glowed on my phone screen that Friday morning - "Can you guys come to Sharjah?" - but it went unnoticed at first. Like most journalists, my mornings begin with scanning global headlines from BBC, CNN, The Guardian and major Indian papers while sipping my first cup of tea. By 6am sharp (despite my habitual 2am bedtime), I've already digested the world's news along with three newspapers collected from my doorstep. Five hours without checking news updates? For someone like me, that's practically sacrilege.

But this story isn't about journalistic routines. The second buzz from my daughter snapped me back to reality - that special father-daughter dynamic where shopping trips become treasured rituals regardless of age or accomplishments.

"Can you guys come to Sharjah? I need scrubs and other things. Isn't it dad's pay day today?" Her text carried that unmistakable excitement only daughters can express when anticipating a shopping spree with dad.

"After a pandemic wedding and becoming a mother, you still remember payday traditions?" I teased in reply.

Daughters never truly outgrow those moments - whether they're CEOs or fresh graduates, surgeons or artists. There's something timeless about walking hand-in-hand through stores asking "Can I get this one? What about that?" until their fathers' legs give out. And secretly? We fathers cherish every minute of it because these grown women will always be our little girls whose laughter once filled our homes and whose needs shaped us into better men.