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50 Things Only Dads With Daughters Know

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How to French braid, who Barbie’s boyfriend is, and how to cartwheel are just some of the things only dads of daughters will know, according to a new survey. A study of 500 dads with daughters under the age of 18 has revealed the top 50 things fathers with a little girl will have mastered.

Knowing all the members of One Direction, how to paint nails, and understanding the term “pirouette” also feature in the list.

50 things only dads with daughters know

1) Who Barbie’s boyfriend is

2) What a pirouette is

3) Glitter gets everywhere

4) How to give the perfect cuddle

5) How to make her feel special

6) How to clean showers full of hair

7) How to shop

8) How to make everything better

9) Girls like getting dirty too

10) When Strictly Come Dancing is on

11) Who the members of One Direction are

12) How to dance with her on your feet

13) You understand it will take hours to get into the bathroom

14) That girls want to play football as well

15) They don’t always want pink and purple

16) How to skip

17) That chocolate or ice cream covers a multitude of sins

18) How important it is to color coordinate

19) That girls also like to build dens and climb trees

20) How to play with dolls

21) How to stop a nightmare

22) How to break up a fight between her and her mother

23) How to paint nails

24) How to show enthusiasm when watching a girly movie or a musical show

25) Who the winner of last year’s The X Factor was

26) How to dance

27) How to ice skate

28) How to French braid

29) How to face paint

30) That you always need to have a hair band handy

31) How to bake the perfect cake

32) How to roller skate

33) How to have a perfect tea party

34) What Taylor Swift’s latest hit is

35) That she needs to change her outfit five times a day

36) How to say “no” gently when she asks to marry you

37) The names of all four members of Little Mix

38) How to behave at a pop concert

39) How to tie ballet shoes

40) How to cartwheel

41) How to get chewing gum out of long hair

42) What objects in the house make a great pop star microphone

43) The dance moves to the Macarena

44) How to make a pair of fairy wings

45) How to be a make-up model and wear eyeshadow and lipstick

46) How to create the perfect bun

47) All the words to Olly Murs “Troublemaker”

48) The difference between fuchsia and pink

49) What to do for a spa day at home

50) The words to Justin Bieber’s “Baby”

Dads of daughters know how to dance with her on their feet, and will know exactly how to alleviate a fight between mother and child without upsetting either party.

Wendy Hill, Brand Activation Director for Mattel, which conducted the study for Barbie, said, “By joining in with activities such as cartwheels and playtime, dancing, and making fairy wings together, dads are showing their daughters just how much they matter — and that everything they do is important.”

Dads of daughters know it is important to shatter stereotypes — and that girls want to play football, build dens, and climb trees too.

The study shows that half of dads know it is important to show their daughters that being kind and brave is more important than being pretty, and when it comes to empowering their daughter, 42 percent of dads tell their daughters that they can be anything.

Dads help their daughters prepare for the future, with 54 percent thinking that encouraging their daughter’s confidence is one of the most important life lesson they can teach, while 51 percent try to teach her practical skills.

Letting their imaginations soar is key for a third of dads who believe their daughter’s dolls help foster imagination.

When dads join playtime, two thirds recognize that this helps build their daughters self-confidence and that time spent in her imaginary world is an investment in her real world — while four in 10 wish they could devote more time to playing with their daughters.

Letting her make her own mistakes, teaching her the value of money at an early age, and encouraging her to be brave are amongst the other “life lessons” dads try to give their little girls.

And researchers found that for eight in 10 dads with a daughter, empowering them to become strong young women is of utmost importance.

As Dr. Linda Nielsen of Wake Forest University explains in her work, decades of research show that girls who have loving, communicative, supportive relationships with their dads from early childhood on are less likely to suffer from a lack of self-confidence and self-reliance as she grows up.

Wendy Hill, Brand Activation Director for Mattel continues: “A huge part of a dad’s role is to empower their daughters to be confident, imaginative and sure of who they are.”

“Global research shows how time spent in her imaginary world is an investment in her real world, and the importance of nurturing the father-daughter relationship to raise the next generation of girls to know their limitless potential.”

This post was written by the editors of Mother & Baby. For more, check out our sister site, Mother & Baby.

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