“A father’s job isn’t to teach his daughter to be a lady. It is to teach her how a lady should be treated.”
As my daughter Juliet approaches the precious age of 4 years old, she is now at a stage where she can truly understand, appreciate, and get excited for special events and holidays. I really try to make each one special, and the holiday based on love is certainly no exception.
Valentine’s Day
Given the pandemic and current circumstances, we did as any good parents would do – improvised and made our own unique and special Valentine’s Day celebration. I joked around a lot with my daughter over the weeks leading up to V-Day asking her if she would be Valentine. She would humor me and say in her sweet voice, “Yes daddy, you can be my Valentine.”
So when Valentine’s Day arrived I instructed Juliet to go put on her “most favorite” and “most beautiful” outfit she could find. During this time, I dressed up in my finest Valentine’s Day outfit. She stayed in her room until I knocked on her door. Earlier on in the day I had a special corsage made for her. When she opened the door I kneeled down next to her and showed her the corsage. I told her how much I loved being her daddy and asked her one more time if she would be my Valentine. She seemed pretty stunned at the floral arrangement, as she’s never seen anything like it before. I put it on her wrist, filled with her two favorite colors pink and purple, and her outfit was now complete. I then asked her if she would do me the honor of joining me in a special dance.
Daddy-Daughter Dance
With corsage on her wrist and our song playing warmly in the background (My Wish by Rascal Flatts), another unforgettable daddy-daughter moment was created. Juliet was shown a memorable evening organized by her first love and Valentine. As her father I understand that I have the ability to set the standard and expectation for how men should treat her. The bar is being set extremely high gentlemen! My daughter Juliet will always know who her true Romeo is.
“…My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to
Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small
You never need to carry more than you can hold
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too
Yeah, this, is my wish…”
