A father wrote a letter to his daughter about how it took him time to grow attached to her and love her.
He wrote about her birth, and that when she came home, he didn’t know what to do.
“Some parents instantly fall in love and others take time for that flame to alight. Is that an awful thing to say?” he wrote. “Or is it so expected that we feel an instant connection with our children, that society puts us in a position of feeling like an inadequate person?”
He also expressed fears about having a daughter.
“I was afraid to have a girl, I didn’t know what to do with girls. Was I going to be a good parent? My male role model hadn’t been a positive addition in my life, can I be a positive influence in hers?”
However he explained that he had no idea how much little moments would affect him, from the time she first said ‘Dad’ to the giggles that put a smile on his face today.
“If only I had known what would make my heart explode. Make tears well in my eyes, make my throat contract as I swallow this bulging lump.”
He finishes by saying that really, he loved her from the very beginning, he just didn’t know it yet.
The letter comes around the same time as a recent study that suggests it takes 56% of new parents up to six months to ‘bond’ with their newborn child, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Parenting expert Jen Hamilton told The Daily Telegraph that there are many different factors, such as personality and personal history that can affect the amount of time it takes to bond with a newborn.
She said: “Babies are really hard work, bonding is different for each person.”
Read the father’s full letter to his daughter here.
