Grace Garden Preschool

For the fathers and daughters of Grace Garden, next week’s Daddy-Daughter Dance will be a night to remember. There will be photos and balloons and frilly dresses. Cookies and punch and dancing - lots of dancing. The girls will run in circles, giggling at their double good fortune of sugar cookies and time with daddy. The daddies will sway to silly music, hoping that the night is perfect for their little ones. What a precious way to spend time together, and how important these “dates” are for your daughter’s future.

Dr. Meg Meeker, a pediatrician who has counseled girls for twenty years, says that a girl’s relationship with her father dictates the course she will take as a woman. To become strong and confident, a daughter needs her father's time, attention, protection, courage and wisdom in her formative years.  In her book  Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know, she writes that the quality time you as a father spend with your little girl – be it talking, protecting, playing or yes, even dancing –  will be the single greatest  investment you can make in her.

Demonstrating for your daughter how a man should treat her when she’s older is invaluable. Listening to her when she shares her emotions and letting her know she is loved unconditionally will be the gold standard for her. With you as her role model, she will seek relationships that allow her to feel loved for exactly who she is, with men who won’t belittle or demean her but rather hold her up as someone truly special. She will expect the people in her life to treat her with respect, and she will not tolerate it when they don’t. 

A strong daddy-daughter relationship is the best protection against eating disorders, failure in school, teen pregnancy, and drug or alcohol abuse. It is also the best predictor of academic achievement, a successful marriage, and a fulfilling emotional life.

Hats off to all you fathers who will don ties and shimmy the limbo next week at the Daddy-Daughter Dance. You may be uncomfortable for a couple of hours, but your gift of time and love will last a lifetime.

Happy Hearts,
Kym