DADS AND DAUGHTERS

Dad’s influence in his teenage daughter’s life shapes her self esteem, personal image, confidence and also her opinion on the type of men she associates herself with. While growing up, for all young girls, dad is the first male figure in her life. He and mom are everything; they become a child’s first world. If by any chance, that relationship between a father and a daughter is strained at an early age, well it could take a lifetime of many internal struggles and very many challenges with the opposite sex.

Young teenage girls who grow up with positive relationships with their fathers (mothers inclusive) tend to be more confident, they choose appropriate partners in their lives and also become quite selective about their choice of friends and especially those who they interact with closely. The young girls tend to respond to situations in emotionally healthy ways and end up having meaningful relationships with both boys and girls.

What really matters is while at that early relationship, dads seek to live life of honesty, integrity. Avoiding any form of hypocrisy hence the ability to admit to their own shortcomings so that the young teenage girl could be able to cope up with the world at any given point.

As a teenage girl continues to grow in her teenage years, dads should cultivate on a trustworthy relationship and give all the support where need be. The ability to be able to be present in her life, listen to her thoughts as this will build up her personal image and growth. The direct personal relationship between the father and daughter in most cases tends to reduce girls insecurities and increases her self-esteem and confidence.

In most cases, the kind of relationship that the teenage girl has with her father is also directed to the long term relationship with the kind of men that they date. The presence of a father figure in her life influences the opinions that a young girl will have towards men. The ability of a father to treat their daughter with love is one very major factor. The fatherly acceptance seems to weigh the heaviest in a young teenage girl.

It is true that we are really a product of our environment. The best gift a dad could give their teenage daughter is the gift of respect. The ability to show respect to her mother consistently in their actions and words is incredibly powerful. It sets standards on how she should be treated by other men in her life and how she feels.

You have the ability to put a healthy and strong pattern in motion. It will last a lifetime. The old saying “girls marry their fathers” is very true. Regardless if the relationship was positive or negative. We are human and we gravitate towards that which is comfortable and quite familiar to us.

A young girl’s early relationship with dad, who is the first male object of her love, shapes her conscious and unconscious sense of what is romantic and an acceptable partner. Good and attentive fathering tends to reduce depression in the teenage girl.

There are challenges that come with being a dad to an adolescent teenage girl. But the ability to spend more time with her, ability to understand her hobbies and her highs and lows tends to create the bond to become more special as the years go by. The ability to find something that is as meaningful and special to do together creates huge difference.

There is no bigger job than dad, no more rewarding.

JOB WELL DONE MR WACHIRA

Muthoni Wachira 

ADIOS