Beautiful Girlhood

My daughter and I have started a weekly study time together. We are reading through a book called Beautiful Girlhood. I was struck in preparations for last weeks lesson tittled Keeping Up Acquaintance's, about the reciprocal nature of our relationships. The chapter talked about seeking out family members, making an effort to speak with them, to know them and to continue to learn about them. I had not ever thought about this before in relationship to my children. The more I though about it the more I realized the truthfulness of the idea. I have always encouraged my husband to "date" his daughters but I realized that I had placed the entire emphasis of their relationship on him. I expected him to do all the work and I had no expectation for my daughters to put forth any effort at all in their relationship with their father. My daughters need to be seeking their father out and I need to be encouraging them to do so.

I am enjoying this time with my daughter. It is a rare opportunity for the two of us to talk privately about the changes she will be experiencing in her life as she grows. We get very busy with things and without setting this time aside I am afraid we could go weeks without ever having a truly meaningful conversation. I am looking forward to learning about my daughter and who she is, to glimpse a picture of who she is becoming and to be part of that process.