I can tell you about many of the things that make my husband an amazing parent (his sense of humor, his willingness to play, his tenderness toward his daughters), but I’d also like to share one specific way he lights up my heart as a father to our daughters.
Last year, my husband started a new tradition. Every month or two, Mike mails a love letter to our daughter, Ava (9), telling her all the things he admires about her and his feelings about being her father.
He sets a monthly reminder on his Blackberry to write about the growth he’s seen in her, the fun interactions they’ve had that month, his hopes and dreams for her. He expresses his love for her in details big and small.
I’ve been working on a love letter blog post to Ava for her 9th birthday for days. The feelings are there; the words are not. Unlike me, Mike doesn’t put off expressing his feelings until he has crafted the perfect sentiments. He jots down his thoughts, prints them out and mails them off.
To me these letters signify something vital and priceless. They say: I see you. You are beloved. You are on my mind. Our relationship is important to me. I see you.
And who doesn’t want to feel seen and known?
Ava tells me she loves these letters and feels really happy when she gets them. I can’t think of anything better than having a father that really sees his children and takes time to express his feelings.
Mike is aware of the importance of his relationship with our daughters and of the impact he will have on their future success in intimate and professional relationships. As soon as Rhys can read, I trust he’ll write to her also.
I love and admire that he takes his role in our daughters’ lives so seriously.
Here’s to this great idea and to dads and daughters everywhere!
How do you nurture your relationships with your children and make sure they feel seen and appreciated? Please share your ideas, big and small, in the comments.
Linking up with Bohemian Bowmans for My Husband Is Awesome Day!
Very cool tradition.
It’s awesome!! Like in the movie “Courageous” when the Dad takes his teenage daughter out to dinner & presents her with a purity ring! How will a young girl know she’s special unless the man-in-her-life…her Dad, tells her!! I have a son…I pray for whoever God chooses to be his wife someday…that her Dad has given her confidence & love when she was growing up! I never stop telling my son what a great husband & Dad he’ll be someday!!
Tell your husband…”Well done!!”
I will! I can only hope his words sink in!
I can’t WAIT to see your love letter blog post to AVa – which I am sure not to miss – because I have emailed subscribed to all my fave bloggers today!
I am a lot like you in that I need the words to be perfect instead of just getting them down. One day I will have to blog about my damned anxiety over blogging!
Me too; me too! I think I’m getting more anxious instead of less – go figure!! Thank you for always being there with the “perfect” comment and support!
I’m just working on trying to prevent any future therapy or emotional scars, but now i realize that WE HAVEN”T BEEN WRITING LETTERS!!! My kids are DOOMED!!!
(you’re hubby sounds like a great dad)
So sad. And your children showed so much promise! If only you had known that letters are the key to EVERYTHING. Bummer.
He is pretty awesome but he’s late coming home from work tonight and he’s in the doghouse, letters or no letters!!
mine is coaching baseball – and my kid is HOME! yep, that’s me, married to Mr. Baseball! Sheesh.
OMG! My husband coached 5th grade boys basketball this year. Guess who doesn’t have a 5th grade boy? Can you say clones? What’s up with our hubbies?
Well, let’s never let them meet. I can’t take another sport in my house. I have 3 boys and he’s got to coach them all, in every sport and then some…
Have your read my Mr. Baseball? It’s my life!
I’m off to read Mr. Baseball! And yes, let’s not let them meet and get any other sports-related ideas!
ha! i can’t take any more sports. it’s really not normal! hey, maybe we can make “spectator sports” a sport, as long as there’s drinking afterwards…
This is so sweet and cool! I’m so totally going to force the Hubs to do this for our kids! (He hates reading and writing. I know. Weird.)
Does he sing? I’m hoping Mike will write original music and lyrics for our second daughter – you know, to give me another post topic!!
This is so beautiful! How awesome is your husband? Did he honestly come up with that on his own? Not that it really matters because I’m now forcing Ian to do the same…
Awesome he is. I don’t know where he got the idea. The letters just started showing up in the mail. Now that he’s officially late, he better be composing something for me too
!
This is fantastic. What a great idea. I want to do this as well. My second child wants to know what special thing does your other daughter get. Is that hard? Because its a special thing– but then if there’s another child, does she get in on it or does she get her own thing. Is it totally obvious I have issues? Guess who’s a number 2?
As a number 2 myself, I’m pushing for him to write Rhys original music and lyrics. Then film himself singing the songs. I’ll let you know how that turns out.
What a great idea. Your daughters are very lucky. Kudos to your husband for recognizing and honoring the importance of a healthy father-daughter relationship.
They are lucky! Hopefully, his influence will outweigh all the negative stuff I send their way
!
This is totally awesome. What a beautiful thing he’s doing for her. have you read “Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters?” You should- it’ll tell you how good of a thing it is he’s doing.
I will read it! And highlight the good parts!
So touching and what a fantastic idea! I’d say you have a real keeper!
I’ll keep him and maybe even appreciate him a bit more after writing this post! Thanks for visiting!
I love the last line of his letter. Not sure why!
Ha!! That line is a favorite in our house, Coach! Hope all is well!
Another week, another vote earned. Very cute story. You have so many good ones, I am beyond jealous! Can we trade lives?
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That is beautiful, and how wonderful that she will always have those letters, always. I can only image how cool it would be to have letters like to pull out and admire, to gain strength from. I love this.
I agree – I love that she will always have these letters from her dad. I know I would love to have something similar from my own. Thanks for stopping by!