You are correct being there for them 100% no matter what, and telling them you love them always unconditionally. The only male - we hope they will have in their life is us so its up to fathers to make sure they have a great relationship no matter what.

Good work for attending all their sporting games also. Sounds like you are ahead of the "8 ball" already.

Good luck with your daughters.

Dads are so important to girls. I believe that one of our most important roles as fathers is to nurture their self-esteem and self-worth. Much of a little girls worth is gained through a loving relationship with their dad. For all of us, whether we know it or not, our self worth is gained early on in life from the opposite gender. Sons from the mums and daughters from their dads.
I have 2 daughters, now 15 and 13 (and have just started again with a 1 week old son). I committed to myself a long time ago to make sure the no matter what they did, they always knew their dad loved them. They still got disciplined (as that is part of loving) but every night they got tucked in, kissed goodnight and told by their dad that he loved them. Then every morning when I see them they are greeted, as often as I can, by a "Good morning my gorgeous girl" or "Good morning my beautiful girl" and a kiss. While they don't get tucked in much anymore they still look for a kiss good night. I go to every sporting game they participate in. It's about being involved in their life and showing them how much I enjoy being part of their life.
I do it because I know if they haven't got their self-worth and self-esteem build up by their dad, then they'll find other relationships that will. For many teenage girls that means sleeping with some rat bag that will take what they can and leave them. Which means for them one step forward 10 steps back. Well not for my girls.
So my job, as a dad to my girls, is just to love them and be there for them, no matter what. And so far so good. They've made good choices up till now and I pray they will over the next few years as they finish school and move into a life beyond their home here.
I love my girls and more importantly, they know it.
And as for my new son, will there be man love in this house... You bet!!

Just realised I didn't add what I meant to!

Although the girls are both doing more "Mummy" things, they DO get out in the garden with me, as they DO like growing things - especially sunflowers in Kristyn's (the eldest's) case - and both of them love showing people what THEY have grown. Am looking to put in a small veggie garden as they are both wanting to grow some things that we can all eat, which will be another source of pride for them.

If you're not a gardener - and not everyone is - have a go at baking something. Chocolate chippies are a good thing - as they taste good while making them as well as when you take them out and it doesn't take much effort (or skill) to make them. I used to be only good for cooking steaks on the barbie (as I would ruin cereal or burn water if left to my own devices in the kitchen), but after a bit of practise with my girls, I can now bake a reasonable chocolate cake.

However, one has gotta watch this, as the wife can be pleased or the exact opposite by having additional tasty (and fattening) things lying around the house in easy reach!

I don't intend on having any more kids and not being a rugby-loving, beer-drinking 'bloke', I do find it a bit easier getting into whatever they are doing than a mate of mine who IS a typical bloke. In my experience, kids (male or female) love it when you play with them and mine especially love it when I put on a silly voice and pretend with them in an imaginary tea party or game of house. My youngest, Amber, and I spend a lot of time listening to music together when we are on our own and Kristyn and I love riding our bikes around the town we live in.

In short, there will always be something that you can offer your daughter, but in my opinion, the more time I can spend with them now, the more they will understand that Daddy is there later on and is approachable no matter what the issue is.

That's what I am aiming for anyway......I guess I'll find out in about 20 years!

Mate, do I see myself in those words! However, although my girls (I have two of them - 6 and nearly 3) still think Daddy is just wonderful, I am aware of their growing trend of gravitating toward what Mummy is doing, instead of mucking about with me as I potter about pulling weeds (though their help there leads to another story...) in the garden or while doing a bit of DIY about the place.

I've noticed that peer pressure gets greatest after they start school and there is a growing tendency to wear more 'girly' things. My eldest even has a "boyfriend" that she spends a lot of time with.....much to my increasing anxiety.

The shotgun has been tested regularly to ensure it's still in good working order.......

I believe some men struggle knowing what to do with a daughter because for so long men and women have been pre-programmed in what to do, how to act and what to wear. Men do their 'masculine' thing and women do their 'feminine' thing...WELL...it's wake up time for us blokes. You need to get out of your comfort zone and do the feminine things no matter how uncomfortable it may be at first.

I'm no great cook but I make sure I bake with her, I'm no great shopper but I make sure I take her shopping on her own for PINK things. I'm not into dolls and dress-up but I do that too.

Once men can feel comfortable about doing the 'female' things that women have done with their daughters for such a long time, then I guarantee you'll not be lost for things to do or how to stimulate her brain.

Darren

Fathers and daughters can have great relationships and should do, but as one who lost their wife and the girls mother when they were nine to cancer, there are things that a girl also needs that she really can only get from a woman, but this doesn't have to be a "wife" too. I had acesss to a range of women of various ages who were available to the girls as they grew up, to show them the things I knew nothing about, especially make-up, puberty and boys. It wasn't easy and I went through one very spectacularly failed relationship which my girls helped me through at the time, before finally marrying a wonderful woman who has taken on the challenge of her new stepdaughters with great fortitude. The girls are now nearly 21, and still an handful, but I wouldn't be without them. I owe a great debt to their grandparents for their support during the worst times, especially their grandmothers, but on reflection, my influence as a dad, for better or for worse is what they credit with getting as far as they have. Dads need to be there for their kids, and their daughters in particular.