CONCORD, N.H. – Thomas Ritzman was 82 when his daughter was born.

Now 90, Ritzman, a retired doctor, is a stay-at-home dad with Eleanor, 8.

People usually think that Eleanor is his granddaughter, or worse, his great-granddaughter.

“I hate that,” Ritzman said.

Before she was born, it had been quite some time since Ritzman last raised a child. With his first wife, he had three children, ages 62, 58 and 57. Ritzman married his current wife, Hannah 13 years ago, and Eleanor was born a few years later. Hannah, 46, works as an operating room nurse.

Unlike his first round as a parent, Ritzman now has much more time to spend with Eleanor. He characterizes his role raising his first three children as “the bedtime reader” and the “fun guy”

“The mind is so powerful. Age is a matter of concept,” Ritzman said. “If you think life is a certain way with people in their 50s, then that’s what you’re going to turn into when you’re that age. If you think people who are 90 walk with a cane, then that’s what you’ll do.”

After World War II, Ritzman was an obstetrician-gynecologist for 35 years. He then spent the next 20 years practicing medical hypnoanalysis, in which he would uncover traumatic experiences in the subconscious of a patient through hypnosis.

Ritzman stopped practicing medicine soon before Eleanor was born. He moved his family from Concord to California for several years before relocating to Virginia Beach, Va., three years ago.

Ritzman said he had treated adults for many psychological conditions that grew out of pre-birth experiences, including unwanted babies that grew up never shedding their fear of rejection and commitment.

“It’s so important that a baby know it is wanted and loved,” Ritzman said.

Ritzman said he and his wife constantly spoke to Eleanor before she was born, telling her through Hannah’s stomach wall how much they loved her. The parents also played plenty of classical music in their home.

Today, Eleanor, who is heading into the third grade, has a special relationship with her father.

“They were partners in crime from the beginning,” said family friend Barbara Higgins, 41, of Concord. “Whatever he does is always an adventure, no matter what, and Eleanor has picked that up, even going to the grocery store and doing laundry.”

But Ritzman’s age still presents its challenges. Eleanor’s friends, for example, have informed her that her father is “old,” and that he is “going to die.”

Father and daughter have spoken about the situation. “She knows it’s a possibility. She’s already thought about it,” Ritzman said. “She’ll miss me, but I think she’ll adjust well.”