Despite your best efforts, your daughters likely gravitate to their dad more often than they do to you. The daddy’s girl cliché starts proving itself early in the toddler years and most of us have just accepted our fate. However, a recent research study shows that the reason why is because dads are more attentive and responsive to toddler daughters’ needs than fathers of sons.
“Researchers studied the brain scans and random, daily recordings of interactions of a group of fathers and found that they sang more often to their daughters and spoke more openly about emotions, including sadness, possibly because they are more accepting of girls’ feelings than boys.”
Just last weekend, I was asked if my daughters are daddy’s girls and I honestly couldn’t say definitively. Perhaps both hubby and I are giving the kids equal levels of attention and responsiveness? Who knows.
It is definitely worth keeping an observant eye out on your interactions with your daughter. There might be an opportunity for you to increase the quality of your emotional responses and also, for you to encourage dad to not be afraid to enjoy physical play with her.
Source: KVOA