Guest Author - Rebecca Wilson

Daughters need their fathers to set developmentally appropriate boundaries, unequivocally and without apology. The chances are good that your daughter will try to "buck the system" and she'll likely be gifted in her ability to cause you to wonder if you're a bad parent for establishing standards of behavior, but don't be fooled. Whether she realizes it or not, what your daughter really wants is the security of knowing that you are going to remain steadfast and unmovable in keeping her safe.

Daughters need their fathers to communicate with them. If you are a father who struggles to communicate with your daughter, you can read books and take workshops in communication styles, but do not become overly occupied with perfect communication. Try your best to be positive and supportive in your word choices, but be yourself, too.

Daughters need their fathers to listen to them, to truly hear them. She doesn't always need you to fix everything in her life, she simply needs you to listen to her. Perhaps she knows what she needs to do, she simply needs to talk it out with the man in her life that has always been there for her, strong and constant.

Daughters need their fathers to be active in their lives. It can be as simple as eating lunch in the cafeteria with her at school, volunteering for a field trip, or playing ball in the front yard. Attend her games and events. Ask her about her day, meet her friends. Be active and present.

Fathers, you have a power in your daughter's life that you may not even imagine possible. I see how my daughters react when their father walks into the room. I watch as they seek his approval. He is the strongest person they know, and they take comfort in knowing he is there to protect them.

I can guarantee their father is not perfect nor is he always "in the moment" and patient, but he is active, he communicates, and he listens. Our daughters love and adore him. In spite of mistakes, they can think of no better man in their lives than their father. When he is proud of them, all is right in the world. That is the power all fathers have in the lives of their daughters.