As I was on a morning walk with Little Bug, we passed by a neighbor’s house. The dad was out in the garage tinkering with his motorcycle and his daughter, who is probably no more than two, was outside with him.

In pure Little Bug fashion, Little Bug picked up her pace, started saying, “Baby! Baby!” over and over again and waved at the little girl the moment she saw her.

The little girl waved back and then went back to being in her own little world as her dad continued to work on his motorcycle.

One waved is never enough for Little Bug, so she continued to wave.

The dad now had his attention on Little Bug while his little girl continued to be in her own little world.

And this happened between father and daughter:

Father: Hey, that baby is waving to you! Wave back.

Little girl is still in her own world and doesn’t wave again.

Father: Or just be a brat! Are you gonna just be a brat and not wave to that baby?

As I walked further down the sidewalk I continued to hear things coming from that man’s mouth that no child, no matter her age, should ever hear from her father.

And this isn’t the only thing I’ve heard that has made me cringe coming from the mouth of that dad when he is speaking to his children.

After all, we do live two houses down from them…

Does he not realize what he is doing to his daughter when he talks to her that way?

It is obvious children are a complete burden to him and that makes me very sad.

Children are a blessing from the Lord and never a burden!

It saddens my heart that there are many fathers out there that do not realize the influence they have on their children. I can only imagine the spirit of that poor child gets crushed every single day. Instead of building her up and shaping and molding her to be a secure, loved child, he is teaching her she is a brat and unwanted.

Tragic.

It makes me so thankful for the father I grew up with who spoke words of kindness to me, loved me enough to discipline me in love, and never made me feel like I was a burden.

It makes me thankful for the man my daughter calls “dada”. Dave loves his little girl and has the patience of Job with her. He reads her her Bible story every morning at breakfast and tickles her till she is laughing like a hyena when he gets home from work.

Not that all teenage pregnancies stem from girls who grew up with an unloving father, but I bet many teen pregnancies are a result of girls looking for love in all the wrong places.

Little girls need to be loved from a male figure. That male figure should be their daddies until it is time for Dad to give her away on her wedding day to a man that is taking over her care as her husband.

I wanted to walk up to that man and shake him and say, “Do you realize what is going on here? Stop obsessing about your motorcycle and pay your precious daughter some genuine attention.”

But I didn’t…because he is a scary man.

Oh, and read this. It’s an excellent article on this very topic. It’s long, but very worth the read.

- Elaine