Things daughters need from their dads - Part 1

Guys, if you want to know the kind of impact a father can have on his daughter, whether good or bad, take a look at this video.  It is based on real life events of this well known actress, who is desperately crying out to her father for love.  Now wipe your eyes and go tell your daughter how much you love her!

Have you ever given any thought to what your daughter needs from you?  Relating to daughters doesn't come natural for us guys.  I would like to offer these as just a few things she needs, and other than "unconditional love", they are not necessarily in any kind of order.  Because I am a Christian, these will be from a Christian perspective; however, if you are of another faith or maybe even no faith, I'm sure you will find these principles still apply.  I will be sharing more over the weeks to come.

1)  Your unconditional love -One of the most precious gifts you can ever receive from God is the gift of children.  And although we guys often have a hard time understanding much less relating to the tender hearts of our daughters, they are something to treasure.  She needs to know that when she is being emotional or irrational, or being a "drama queen", or is upset with you, that you still love her...unconditionally.  Let her know that you will love her no matter what she does or how bad her choices in life might be or have been.  Tell her you love her often and show it by spending (and this is my next point)...time with them!

2)  Your time - One of the most important things we dads need to do more often is spend time with our daughter doing what she wants to do.  Oftentimes, we do things with her that we want to do and drag her along.  Not that that is a bad thing and she should know the things that are important and enjoyable to us, but sometimes we just need to ask her what it is she wants to do.  Trust me, I have played "house", played with Barbies, or you name it, more times than I could ever count.  I mean these aren't things manly men do...are they?  Your daughter doesn't care and isn't thinking that these are things dads don't do.  She just wants to be with you and spend time with you getting to know you.  This is another way she knows you care for her.

And guys, when you are spending time with her, listen to her (okay, I'm speaking to myself on that one).  She needs to feel safe sharing her thoughts and opinions with you.  She needs to know that you won't yell at her or judge her when she doesn't see it your way.  Also, spending time together gives her the opportunity to know what you stand for and to learn about moral character and integrity.  This leads to Part 2 of "Things daughters need from their dads"...

Coming next week:  3) Your high moral character and integrity, and 4) Your love and affection for their mom.

(And for those women that happen to find or stumble onto this blog, we welcome your thoughts and words of wisdom.  We need to hear things from your perspective too...so be bold and blog on!)