Book Review : That’s My Girl

My latest book to read has been That’s My Girl by Rick Johnson.  Rick is the founder of Better Dads and is very successful speaker on topics relating to parenting and marriage.  Check out his blog at Better Dads to find out more about him and his ministry.

 

That's My Girl

 

This is a book written for Dads, to help them navigate the often confusing journey of parenting a little girl.  Rick is a father of a daughter himself and shares a great deal of insight into his own parenting style with his daughter and many stories about this lives together.

I enjoyed how Rick began the book by giving a more scientific explanation about the make-up of girls.  While I have read some of this before, as you are raising them you can forget what is making them tick.  I enjoyed an overview of the chemical effects going on in our little girl’s minds and bodies.

Next, Rick goes into the impact and importance of Mom and Dad and how they need to relate to each other and to their daughter.  I found everything he said to be true in my own upbringing, making me realize how important those things are with my own daughter.

I really liked the chapter where Rick discussed Bonding with your Daughter.   He talked about healthy affection and how if Dad is providing the affection our daughters need, they are less likely to look for that affection from other boys.  My favorite point, however, was when he was talking about making memories with your daughter.  Do the same thing every year for her birthday, or call every Valentines day, etc; simply something that is always the same for them to look forward to or count on.  These little things will become very important to our daughter as she grows up and the rest of the world seems against her and unpredictable.

Rick is very transparent in this book about his relationship with his daughter, which was anything but perfect.  Through his personals stories you can see the reality that each daughter is different.  While all these points and ideas are good, it is important for us to know our own daughter so that we can be the parent she needs us to be.

I am clearly not a dad, and yet enjoyed this book thoroughly.  I thought many of Rick’s points were just as valuable to a mom as a dad.  However, I am asking my husband to read this book in the coming weeks so we can talk about it.  And I hope that he will read it again in a few years to remind himself of what he learned.

This is a great book for dads.  A great tool to have in the toolbox as your daughter gets older and more “complicated.”  I think every parent would benefit from reading this book, and I look forward to reading Rick’s other book That’s My Son, in the future (as we have a few of them too!).

NOTE: I received this book at no cost, in exchange for an honest review by Revell Publishing.