Saturday, February 11, 2012

Daddies and Daughters

This past Friday night was the annual Daddy/Daughter Dance in our small fair town.
It is a night where little girls get to be the Princess and the daddies get to be the Prince.
Weeks before-hand, outfits are looked over, tossed aside, picked up again, re-tried and (this year at the very last day) decided upon.
It's the one day Precious Jewel is excited to wear a dress; let me get near her head with a blow-drier and a curling iron and I allow her to borrow a bit of lip-gloss and sheer eye-shadow.
She is the Princess for one night and Daddy is her Prince Charming.
This is the first night in 3 years that Luke hasn't had to ask off for the Dance or ask his dad to take her because work wouldn't allow him to switch evenings with someone else.
Both of them were in daddy/daughter heaven.
I've been reading Dr. Dobson's Bringing Up Girls book and I want to share some of the little Proverbs that he pulled out of another book titled Father to Daughter: Life Lessons on Raising a Girl. by Harry Harrison.
  • Take part in her life now. Don't wait until she's 15 to try and develop a relationship.
  • Her mom will show her how to bake chocolate chip cookies. You show her how to dunk them in milk.
  • Teach her to count. First her fingers. Then Cheerios, M&Ms, dandelions, and fireflies.
  • Be prepared to watch Walt Disney movies with her some 200 times. EACH.
  • Never. ever, make fun of her. EVER.
  • Relish the moments when she toddles (or walks) up and for no reason at all throws her arms around your neck. Resist the urge to buy her the world.
  • Never forget that supportive fathers produce daughters with high self-esteem.
  • Read to her often. Very soon, she'll be reading to you.
  • Give her a picture of you to put in her first purse. If you're lucky, she'll always carry a photo of you.
  • Make a Valetine's Card---EVERY YEAR.
  • Ask her about her day, every day. Share her wonder.
  • Keep her secrets. This way she will begin to trust men.
  • Encourage her to be kind. Even to the girl nobody likes.
  • Make up stories to tell each other at night. Stretch her imagination.
  • There will be days when you think you've raised an alien. Those are the same days she feels she's being raised by one.
  • Never laugh at her dreams.
  • Tell her she is the daughter you always dreamed about.

There were so many many more of these in the chapters Fathers To Daughters. Some made me laugh. Some made me cry. I, as a daughter myself, agreed with them all.

Worn out after a long night of dancing with her daddy.

Begging to dance again the next day with her daddy. Nater Mater asked to join in and a game of Merry-Go-Round began.

Thank you honey, for being the kind of daddy to our daughter that she can look up to and be proud of. Thank you for loving her.

2 comments:

Wendy Thibault Kane said...

awww. This made me tear up. :) Sweet daddy and daughter!

Sara Neufeld said...

thank you for your sweet comments on my blog. :) just realized i went to high school with your husband...cool. also, this post made me cry. so sweet and something to look forward to with our ruby. :)