I am delightfully tickled to see fathers doing their daughters hair. It brings me joy to see a lot of the attempts at ponytails and curls. I was riding the bus one day and witnessed a father sweating and completely focused on putting two ponytails in his daughter’s hair. She kept asking “Daddy are you done yet” and his response was “hunny I’m trying to get it like mommy does it.” I could not contain the smile that spread across my face as I tried not to make it seem as if I was laughing at the situation but actually enjoying the effort he was putting forth.

Rather single or in a relationship, it takes pure love and attention for a dad to even bother with “girly stuff” such as doing hair. I’ve have seen fathers have tea parties with their daughters and even paint their baby’s toe nails. I just can’t get enough of that cuteness! My father used to help do my hair when I was young and I got a kick out of going to school with my hair sticking up in the air.

I read an online article that discussed the negative views of men doing what they consider ‘a woman’s job’. As parents there are things that a man can’t teach a little girl and vice versa but things such as doing hair and painting nails…..those things are quality time and bonding. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with fathers assisting in the beautification of their princesses. I place it in the same category as a mother taking her son to the barbershop and to football practice. Yes, these are things that their father should be doing but there is nothing wrong with occasional help.

If there is a single parent situation, then unfortunately one parent is left to do both the mother and fathers job. Unfortunately we see this all too often. We have become familiar with seeing single parents doing it all. I take my hat off to those men and women, as it is difficult enough just being a parent but to be a single parent with an absent parent to the situation………whew.

I had a conversation recently with a friend of mines who is a single father due to the death of his daughter’s mother during birth. He loves fatherhood but sometimes hates being single due to the fact that he has difficulties with the “girly” stuff. He has friends paint her nails and help pick out clothes but he tackles her beautiful mane every day and admits that though he enjoys it…it’s not as easy as it looks.