An equal relationship in fatherhood
I have been father now for nearly two and half year, and one of the ideas I try to carry in my mind is that my relationship with my daughter is of equality. In a sense there is no hierarchy, she is 2.5 year old, and I also have been father only for 2.5 year old.
I originally learned this beautiful idea from the book “Because He Is” by Meghna Gulzar about her incredible relationship with her father. Recalling this in mind has been very helpful, as I navigate this emotional and deeply human relationship that is both just starting and has been long enough already to pull me in unlike anything I ever experienced.
Teaching agency to my daughter
Painting along with my daughter has become a ritual of sort, it is messy, hectic, entertaining and healthy mix of both predictability and surprises. She now notice paintings, comments on familiar colors and has somewhat of a preference about her way of going about them.
Without thinking much into it, I put some of her paintings in our apartment. Especially a large one. And she would often point towards it commenting that she painted it. And in a beautiful way, she is internalizing that she can impact and change her own surroundings and the environment. She can contribute and make things big and small that are part of her life.