As parents, we adore our children regardless of their gender. This is a given, and yet most parents will also tell you that there’s a special connection between parents and children of the opposite sex.
Boys and their mamas. Little girls and their daddies. When those relationships are healthy, everyone involved is thriving in ways they never could have imagined.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
And yes, while girls needed their mamas and little boys need emotionally strong and complex men to model after, this post is about celebrating the relationships between girls and their wonderful dads.
“Here’s to the girl dads.
Here’s to the guys who love hiking and fishing.
Who camp and build things with their hands.
Who have tattoos on their arms,
Here’s to the guys guy,
That now hold a little girl.
Thanks for pausing the wrestling matches to conduct tea parties.
Thanks for babysitting baby dolls,
And letting tiny hands,
Put polish on your big toes.
Here’s to the dads who watch princess movies,
And slow dance in the kitchen.
The dads who helped take off training wheels,
Who tighten seatbelt straps,
And fasten car seats in.
Who hold hands when crossing the street,
Who have spent so many years right now learning to hold on,
And will spend the rest of your lives learning to let go.
You are building hearts with your construction hands.
And I know a little girl who thinks the world of you.
So here’s to the girl dads,
Who give so much beauty to the word
Dad.”
Photo Credit: Pixabay
These words bring a tear to the eye of every woman who had a wonderful dad, a man whose love and guidance and kindness shaped not only her, but informed the kind of man she would choose to parent her own babies.
And of course, to the eye of every woman who has a partner like this in raising a daughter – having that is a blessing that none of us would turn away if we had the chance.