The Best Christmas Gift for Fathers of Daughters

These truths have occupied the center of women’s lives for millennia. So this December, I’m asking every father of a daughter to give himself the perfect Christmas or Hanukah present:  Understanding the truth that you alone can determine the success or failure, happiness or grief in your daughter’s future.

And for you mothers who read this and get angry or feel left out, please don’t. You matter tremendously too, but you already know that. However, I assure you that your daughter’s father doesn’t fully understand the depth of his worth in her eyes.

When it comes to her father, every daughter’s heart beats a little faster.

As a pediatrician who has heard the hearts of thousands of young people over the years, there are only a few things that I know unequivocally. And one of those things is this: when it comes to her father, every daughter’s heart beats a little faster. It may be for joy or for hope, but nothing can keep her from wanting more from her dad.

I want you to ponder these three things:

1. Your daughter wants to adore you. Yes, she does. If you have a 13-year-old, you won’t believe me, but I don’t lie. She does want to adore you, she just doesn’t know how to show it through her insecurities.

2. You sit at the center of your daughter’s world. When your daughter meets a boy, she compares his language, dress, and demeanor to you. She doesn’t do so consciously, she just does so automatically because you are there, in the deep recesses of her heart and mind.

3. No one will call you Hero like your daughter will. Every daughter wants her father to protect her, love her, work hard for her and cherish her like no other, including her future husband. We women love our husbands, but our fathers are different. They were there first.

Dads, no one will call you hero like your daughter will.

If you can embrace these truths, your world will never be the same.

Happy holidays, good dads. If you won’t give this gift of understanding to yourself, then do it for one special girl who needs you. She may be your biological, adopted, foster or stepdaughter. It doesn’t matter. If she calls you Dad, then she has tagged you “it,” and she’s waiting.