Families For Life | Why It’s Important for Dads to Spend Time with Their Daughters

Even though it might seem as though your daughter has more in common with your wife, and that maybe the best advice should come from a mother to her daughter, you need to know that fathers are just as important when it comes to counselling and guiding their daughters.

Finding time in your busy schedule to take your daughter out for some 1-on-1 time is a great way to build a relationship and to give her your support. 

Be There from the First Moment

Make it a point to spend time together right from the beginning. When she is a baby, take her out for a walk, play with her in the garden and make silly faces together. As she grows older, this may progress to teaching her how to ride a bicycle, participating in sports together, bringing her out to watch movies, have an ice cream, go ice skating, learn a new hobby or any other activity which she might be interested in.

As you spend time with your daughter, you will grow and cement your bonds with her. Knowing you are there and feeling comfortable with you, your daughter will in time be able to share her feelings with you. She will be able to ask you for support and advice as she grows up and starts to encounter more and more complex situations in life. 

Listen and Talk and Be Present

Setting aside time for your daughter tells her that she is important to you. It re-affirms the value you place in her as an individual. This helps her to build a positive and strong sense of self-esteem. 
When you do spend time together, make sure that you are present and in the moment. Listen to her, ask for her opinions and talk to her. 

Be a Role Model

Whilst it is true that there are probably some things that your daughter might feel more comfortable asking your wife about, you are still the only person who can model what a good father, family man and husband should look like. Seeing how you treat your wife and also how you interact with your daughter will give your daughter valuable lessons in self-esteem. It will set the expectations that she will have about how she should be loved and treated by the future men in her life. 

When you make time to go out with your daughter make sure you treat her with the respect, interest and sensitivity that you feel that she deserves. Open the car door, pick her up and make sure she is safe, ask her for her views and opinions and listen to her attentively. This way, when she grows up and goes out on a date, she will very quickly understand when and why her date might not be treating her appropriately.