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When They Need You Most
Dads and Daughters By Carma Haley Shoemaker
The Silence of Our Dads Withdrawal, abandonment and laying down the law leave little room for father-son conversation or questions about being a dad. "Compared to what moms usually learn from their mothers and their kin, we're flying deaf, mute and blind," says Kelly. 
Building a Relationship
While many will admit there is something "special" about the relationship between a father and his daughter, most don't understand how much work it can take to keep this relationship going. Building a relationship and keeping it is one of the most important things a father can do for his little girl. "Our impact as fathers on our daughters is astounding," says Kelly. "We may sense this truth, but not fully understand it. Often, we can't understand our daughters at all. Having grown up as boys, we are in the dark about what it is like to be a girl. Sure, most of us spend time with females, but daughters affect us with a greater intensity than any other female in our lives. We worry we are not doing things right, not preparing her well enough, not getting through to her, and that's scary." Girls tend to be a riddle to fathers. However, with a bit of detective work and doing your homework fathers can unlock the secrets to the mystery that is their daughter. "Like any mystery, our relationships with our daughters can be frightening, exciting, entertaining, baffling, enlightening or leave us completely in the dark sometimes all at once," says Kelly. "If we want to unravel this mystery, we have to pay attention, even in the most ordinary of moments. If we want to figure it out, we have to listen even before our daughters speak."
