Daddy-Daughter Dates

It happened one day when I was leaving for work.  I kissed my two year old daughter goodbye and she asked, “Where are you going?”  So I told her that I was leaving to go to the church.  “To play with Piper?” she asked.  Piper is another little girl at our church, and I realized that she thought that all my time away from her was spent playing with other kids.  Every time she went to the church building it was full of other kids learning and having fun with me.  She naturally assumed that that is how it is at the church building all the time.  This really got me.  In my mind I was being a great Dad, but in her mind I was daily committing the parental equivalent of adultery.

Since that time she has been to the church on other days and seen me at my desk, and I try to remember to tell her that I am going to work in my office.  She seems to understand it a little better.  But I also decided that I need to make sure that as she grows she gets a lot of play and learning time with just me.  My life is busy and now she has a sister (i.e. competition) so I need to have a plan for taking advantage of the time I have with her.

In my search for ideas I recently found a neat book entitled, “88 Great Daddy-Daughter Dates: Fun, Easy & Creative Ways to Build Memories Together” by Rob & Joanna Teigen.   It is a very useful book and chock full of great ideas.  Check it out on amazon here.  I have also found a number of other neat ideas on Pinterest and other places.

My wife, Sarah, is starting a new job and I will soon have the girls to myself every Saturday.    My plan is to have a fun activity planned for us at least two Saturdays a month, and to post about it here.  You guys can hold me accountable and watch our progress.