Dr. Simon Min, an ICU doctor, kicked off the first Bright and Cheerful Home seminar of the year on the topic of Fathers and Daughters: A Special Bond of Love on Tuesday, March 29, 2022 via Zoom. As a father of 2 daughters and 1 son, aged 12-27, Dr. Min started his talk by sharing with the audience, mainly consisting of fathers, that

the best way to love your daughter is to love her mother.

He then explained how a father builds and strengthens a loving bond with his daughter: by spending time, sharing relationships and interests, treasuring his daughter as a gift, and treating his relationship with his daughter as a union of souls.  

Dr. Min also covered some of the obstacles to a loving bond, including setting priorities in the wrong order, having difficulty respecting a daughter’s freedom, fighting against peer pressure and social media, and troubles with time, namely, not spending enough time with the family and time alone with a daughter to develop a friendship with her. When discussing these obstacles, he challenged the audience:

For each of us, we should ask ourselves: ‘Am I making my daughter a priority in my life? Am I doing it now? And can I do better? And what is it that I am going to change?’

Dr. Min briefly touched upon the fears of every father has for his daughter, and reiterated the key roles of the father as protector, provider, role model, source of wisdom, teacher, and future babysitter. He reminded the audience to have fun with and bring joy when raising a daughter, and build a daughter’s self-esteem through their bond of love. Lastly, Dr. Min concluded the talk by discussing how to define success, specifically, how a father aspires to raise a daughter with virtues through his own good example, and aims to prepare his daughter for the many unique and significant roles she will have as a woman in her adult years.

 One of the attendees, a father of 3 children, shared:

My biggest take away from last night’s talk is that I as a dad must step up and establish that special “us” time between my daughter and I to bond. It’s that special occasion that should happen regularly, once a month or even more frequent and this event should be something that both of us enjoy. That will break the barrier sometimes a dad faces with their daughter.

 Thank you for joining us @ Fathers and Daughters: A Special Bond of Love! We look forward to seeing you at our next Bright and Cheerful Home Seminar!