Do You Know Who It's Going to Be?

Is it more exciting for a kid to face questions of who your father is, who daddy will be or who dad was?

"Was" sounds the least interesting, the most passive, and that appears to be what needed to be covered up by glitz, star turns, spandex and glitter in "Mamma Mia", readied to open worldwide. [Earlier: Acting Dad] MM is promoted as the story of a mother and daughter coming together, but they are coming together and the dramatic tension (such as it is turns) over the question of whether Moe, Larry or Curly (so to speak) are father of the bride-to-be.

More interesting is the question of who your daddy is. Particularly interesting is the question you get when you know who he is but the question adds a bit of glamor to the public's desire to learn who you are. Such is the case of Welsh wailer Duffy, whose debut album Rockferry is named for the hometown of her biological dad, has to face question and rumor after supposition that she is really the illegitimate child of iconic crooner Tom Jones or (Sir) Thomas John Woodward to his dad.

But perhaps the most interesting — certainly the most historic — question is who three girls daddies will be. 'Cause who their dad will be and where they take them will determines their future. Malia and Natasha or Bridget — the first two progeny of Barack Obama and the third the 16-year-old, youngest child of John McCain — will live in the White House ... and that could make all the difference in their lives.

So, as a dad gets defined, his children get answers.