What Every Dad Should Know about Raising Little Girls

Making the Connection

It doesn't take special knowledge for a dad to connect with his daughter. He doesn't need to know anatomy or sociology or even the names of storybook princesses, bands, or clothing labels (she has friends for all that). So what does a dad's healthy involvement with a daughter actually look like? From infancy onward, here's what dads can do to get and stay connected:

• Bathe and dress their baby girls. (Most men can actually coordinate outfits; if they can't, they can learn. Moms, don't be fooled by false incompetence!)
• Start and maintain special daddy-daughter rituals: for example, going out periodically for dinner or ice cream, playing a sport together, or when they're younger, simple activities like reading together or playing in the park.
• Allow themselves a place in their toddlers' imaginative play, even as it begins to center on "girl" things like dolls, dressing up, and playing house.
• Encourage (but don't push!) their daughters to express themselves through healthy physical play, beginning with plenty of holding and cuddling and progressing to rough-and-tumble wrestling with daddy (contrary to popular belief this doesn't make kids more aggressive), and then, if she wants, on to informal and then organized sports.

Once dads are involved in their little girls' lives, it becomes easier to keep in tune with their adolescent permutations. While new dads don't have to worry about the following steps yet, it's never too early to start preparing for them:

• Listen without fixing. At the risk of stereotyping, guys can't get a real perspective on a woman's world unless they can listen without solving problems in their heads while she's talking. Learning to listen is easier said than done; an excellent guide through the process is the book I Don't Have to Make Everything All Better, by Gary and Joy Lundberg. Of course, some discussed problems do need to be fixed, and a dad who can do either depending on the situation is in a true position to help.
• Express affection. Many men look forward to having sons so they can teach them what they know and do all the things they think are fun with them. But there are facets of the father-daughter relationship that are equally unique and irreplaceable. It's worthwhile for a guy to talk with his partner about her experience with her father: what made her feel special, and what hurt her feelings. A dad who acts on this knowledge will win both his daughter's and his partner's hearts over and over again.
• Enforce boundaries. Despite the bad rap that harsh disciplinarians give this aspect of parenting, dads who work with moms to consistently maintain reasonable rules are showing love for their children no matter how the kids respond. Parents who have decided beforehand how to handle tantrums, whether from a toddler or a teenager, are in a much better position to be consistent and united in their discipline. An expecting couple can make a game of the scenarios they each might encounter with their kids. It can be illuminating for a dad-to-be to realize he has no effective counter-arguments for the simplest of resistances: "No!" "Why not?" "You can't make me."

As the dad of a daughter who's just learning to talk, I'm not looking forward to hearing these phrases. But at least I'll know how to handle them because I'm not waiting until she's a teenager to plan for them.