Reading a book by Chap and Dee Clark. They sampled a letter of a young lady who is calling out to her dad to be a father.
“I don’t know where to start… there is so much I want to tell you about the real me, but you only see me as your “little girl.” In fact, we’ve even joked about it before.
I remember when we first moved to Kansas. I was growing out of the back rub stage, but I guess the move made me need you even more. You wrote me a letter when I was eight, commenting on this, but I still needed those back rubs. You sent me the letter nine years later and I read it for the first time a week ago. I sobbed when I read it. I realized that every once in a while I still need a daddy to take me in his arms and protect me from this awful world and keep me out of harm’s way. Yet I need a father ,too. Someone who will prepare me for the real world. Daddy, will you be my father, too?”
Here’s a few key thoughts Chap and Dee Clark wanted to share so we can be the dads our girls need to be:
1. Take her seriously.
When a child enters adolescence, the key word for her is independence. This is an adolescent quest – to be treated as and to feel like an individual who matters.
2. Care about what she thinks.
Let her know that her opinions and ideas are important to you. She is not just part of the family, but she is an important part of the family.
3. Walk with her through the journey of the adolescence.
She inherently needs and desires a unique relationship with daddy. This is an opportunity to treat her in a more grown up way and to trust and encourage her as she navigates these years.
But the most important thing is to let her know that whatever happens, daddy is for her, with her and will journey with her through everything she’d go through.