Girs What role does your father play in your life?

[Cynical]

My father was never involved in my life and it never bothered me. I was kind of glad that he wasn't there. A lot of people get upset and dwell over the absence of their parent(s) but for me, it was never an issue. Life is all about desicions and the consequence of those desicions. Even from an early age, I felt like well, he's an adult, and this is what he chose. I had nothing to do with that. I had to just chalk it up to him being a low life, and keep it moving. He, like many other parents (especially fathers) was absent from my life and as I got older, he tried to make a mends and take a role in my life but by time it was too late. I felt like, why are you here now? You had ample opportunities to help raise me, but you refused and you missed out. Oh well, that's just the way the cookie crumbled.

As far as how my life would've played out if he was present, I mean, I don't think it would've been that different. Well, there would've been more income in the house, but that's about it. I do think that fathers play a significant role in their daughters life though. With certain things like dating etc., I think the father has a lot of influence. The way daughters and fathers react to each other has a lot to do with how women view men and act in relationships and how they view themselves. If I had to choose between a mother and father raising the daughter though, I probably would choose the mother to have the upper hand for the simple fact, only a woman can teach another woman, how to be just that. Fathers can teach daughters and mothers can guide sons, but when it comes down to it, only a woman can teach me the best way to be one.

[Blutifully Human]

The father is the first point of male contact for a little girl. We long for for our daddy's attention because we were created to. As little girls, we are not aware of romance, but our fathers are supposed to be our first male/female interaction...the loves of our lives...our prince charmings. If he isn't present, then another male has to be there...otherwise we sense the void and seek what is missing.

My father wasn't around when I was growing up. He has been trying to step his game up lately and contribute to my education, but before now all I really got was some low priced child support checks. I had alot of bitterness towards him as an adolescent, and it really affected the way I view men as a whole. To this day I have a very hard time trusting to them or not thinking that they are just going to abandon me (like my father did). And although I do believe that my mother has done a fantastic job on her own, I think that my father's presence definately would have impacted me. Now, would it have been a good or bad one? Who knows lol. Lets just say his way of thinking doesn't exactly sit well with me, so i know for a fact that we definately would have had some serious conflict if he was in the house. On the otherhand, when it came to the attention, affection, and recognition that I thought I was missing from men, having him there really could have made a world of a difference. And I think the same could be said for so many other women that grew up in single mother households.

[ThatClassyGirl216]

Now, my father plays a very important role in my life. I go to him for advice, consult him when it comes to making important decisions, etc. But it wasn't allways that way. Sometimes, when me and my sisters were younger, we used to wish my father and mother were divorced, we couldn't stand him! He was very overprotective and strict, and didnt have much of a relationship with us. He was the one who laid down the rules, left my mom to enforce them, and worked long hours at work. He wasn't (and in a way still isn't) very involved in our lives...growing up, he was more concerned with church and working overtime. But now, things are a little different. Thankfully!

[Sister Tamara]

PRAISE THE LORD!!!

WOW!!! You posed some thought provoking questions, I guess we'll see just how much space this post has...

My father played/plays a major role in my life. When I was younger I couldn't stand my dad. My mom and dad have been married for 30 years, but my dad didn't live with us the whole time. They started out living together, but as the kids came they needed a bigger place. Well, the only place they could afford was low income. My dad thought he was "too good" to stay there so he got his own place. He had a good job while my mom received public assistance. Since they were still married, she didn't get child support. When my dad did come, he came bearing gifts. He didn't realize that his presence was needed more than his presents. My mom never committed adultery, but I have 4 or 5 step-siblings because of my father. The oldest sibling's birthday is the same day as mine and the youngest is 4 or 5 years old. My dad had all the authority as a father when he came around. He made the rules & we had to follow them regardless of if he was there or not. If we didn't we had to answer to him when he came.
So, my father/daughter relationship was messed up, because I didn't respect him. I would be rebellious just because I didn't feel like I should have to listen. I didn't want to be in a relationship because I thought that's how it was suppose to be. The female had to do right, but the man could do whatever he wanted to do. Plus it seemed like I was always on restriction, but my brother could come and go whenever he pleased. I grew up with the mentality that life was unfair for a female, so I was going to make it fair for me. So, I started to do what I wanted, when I wanted and however I wanted to. I hardened my heart towards guys so that I could do what I wanted to them without feeling guilty. Plus I was so gifted with game, that I could make them do what I wanted and had them thinking that it was their idea. The only problem was when I got caught up, I really got caught up. If my dad had been in my life the way he was suppose to had been, my views of male/female relationships wouldn't have been so twisted. The only way my dad knew how to show he cared was through gifts and money. So, when I did fall for a guy, my spending money was my way of showing him that I cared. Now, I'm not taking away from my mom. When I was younger I thought that she was weak to stay married to my dad, but now I realize that she was actually strong for staying married to him. The only reason that I have a relationship with my dad now is because I am saved. I had to realize that no matter what he is my father and I owe him respect alone for that. I made amends with him because I know that if I would have died with that anger toward him in my heart I would have went to Hell. Now I can talk and laugh with my dad and it feels good. The older parents get the more they realize the role that they have played in their childs life. A lot want to do better and don't know how. My dad was part of a generational curse, where all of the men were "rolling stones!" I had to realize that he really didn't know how to show love the way I needed or deserved it. He didn't have the love of God in him to show him what real love was. So, now I just pray for him. I pray that he will get saved so that he can finally love my mother the way that she deserves to be loved. Plus I have some little brothers that are watching. A mother is not more important than a father is. Children need their mother and father. They need them to be in the same household. They need them to demonstrate what true love is. We all can become somebody with only a mom or a dad in the household, but the Lord didn't mean for it to be that way.

[Phylicia215]

Just my $.02..

Currently, Im 17 and my relationship with my dad is strickly financial. Well when I was younger I had no relationship with my dad. He and my mom had gotten a divorce when I was 2 and I guess he was still way bitter from how it all went down. My brother who was about 15 when they divorced had loss a relationship with his father too. When I was 11 he had a stroke and I guess that humbled him because he started buying me all this stuff for holidays and what not. I dont really wonder what my life wouldve been like becuase I have no regrets of how I was raised by my mother and I always had male figures iny life because my brothers and I have such a big gap between us. I think he could have gotten more out of our realtionship if heas there a long time ago but that was his choice and I giuess that is what he has to live with. I do believe thatin so girls lives fathers can play a big role in how they choose to present themselves but that isnt always the case.

[iluv_me]

I don't have a realationship with my father he wasn't able to be there for me due to the demons he's dealing with. But I had an Uncle Deon who has my heart I love him so much he's my father in my eyes it may not be bioloigcally but everthings a father suspposed to do he did. Even when him and my aunt divorced he was still around. I think every little girl wants to be the apples of there's daddy's eye, and he allowed me to be that. I don't know how my life would've been different but I feel as if I wouldn't be the same person as I am today.

[ecepeda]

I suppose I am one of the blessed ones that was raised by a biological father. He is my heart and although we don't agree sometimes and he says hurtful things to me sometimes, I cannot see my life without him. I thank God for him being in my life, alive and well, for his health, and for his protection.

I call my Mommy my baby because of how she supported me throughout my life. Now I try to take care of her just as if she were my baby...the way she cared for me. But since we're talking about fathers, I love him too, but I guess it's something about mothers that's so inexplicable.

My Dad was always supportive. He is a hard working man, responsible, and home always came first. He worked too much and we hardly saw him sometimes but he always made time for us to play and talk with him. Our relationship is good but not as tight as with my Mommy.